A Series of Impossibilities
by Dark Maria
Summary: Post 2007 movie A woman finds a strange metal shard after the final battle, and what happens after will affect more than her life. Part One of Fair Winds of Cybertron. Read and review, please.
1. How it all began

-1I don't own any of this stuff, save for Sarah, all the OOC-ness and whatever isn't already claimed by somebody else.

It started when Sarah Hornsby found the Shard lying amid the wreckage on the Mission City street. The Shard didn't look like much of anything, let alone anything special, just a hunk of dark, glossy metal the size of a small hairbrush. It was amazing she'd even seen it, as it had blended in with the pulverized dirt and charred remnants of unrecognizable things, but somehow… Something in the back of her mind had made her attention fix upon that spot. Now that same something was telling her that this… _thing_ she had found was either important somehow or it had been once, that that she looked not upon a shard but a Shard. "Such a small thing…" It seemed to have been the corner of something, something heavy and ornately decorated, for she could see delicate traceries that must have once made up loops and spirals. "Such a small and innocuous thing…" The day's heat had baked it so it was warm in her hand, though with dusk falling it would soon cool. A bit of brushing with gentle fingertips restored its sheen. A static charge ran through her as she touched the now-clean metal, making her skin prickle. That was a little odd, but it couldn't be much different from shuffling across a shag carpet and then touching a doorknob. Sticking her find in her pocket, she brushed her hands off on her already-dirty jeans, letting the grime smear. It wasn't as if her jeans could get any dirtier, after all. Shaking her head, her midriff-length mousy brown hair falling over her blue eyes, she suddenly felt herself become very aware of how utterly filthy she was. Her first order of business upon getting back to her apartment would be a shower, followed by sack time.

The bedside lamp glowed with a warm, tawny light as Sarah sat in her bed, turning the Shard over and over in her hands. It was still warm. "That's odd…" There was something about it, this Shard she held. "What _are_ you?" Ever since it had zapped her, she'd felt odd… She could feel some sort of energy coursing inside her, unnamed and unnamable. "I feel more alive than I have ever felt before!" Whatever energy was associated with being alive… That was what she felt flowing within her. It was pleasant, to say the least. Holding the Shard to her chest, she relaxed and just let herself slide away into sleep.

Sarah dreamed, and in her dreams she flew through space, passing star after star to alight on an unknown planet somewhere beyond all human knowledge. To say that it was alien to her would be an understatement. Structures and objects of unknown origin and function towered all around her, and everywhere she could spy the glint of metal. Was this whole planet metal? It was all alien to her, but the tableau of carnage and destruction was all too familiar. _"War," _she whispered to herself. Fantastical forms of great size fought, killed and died all around her. "Are they machines too?" Listening to their shouts and war cries, the language unfamiliar but the intent all too clear, she began to make out differences between the two groups. "These ones have blue eyes…" She looked across the battlefield. "…And those ones have red eyes." She was a ghost, no, less than a ghost, as the carnage raged all around her, shots and fighting forms passing right through her as she wandered. Across the way she could see a great many of the blue-eyed ones clustered together. All of them looked to one, and she marveled at the sight of him. An aura of nobility and wisdom seemed to pour forth from him, and the sound of his deep, rich voice only served to heighten that sense. "These are the good guys," she realized. Everything swirled around her and she found herself now standing near a cluster of the red-eyed ones. As before, all of them looked to one, but this one was the polar opposite of the first. Covered all over with spiky silver armor, with spidery claws for fingers at the end of powerful arms, eyes seeming almost to burn with unholy flames, terrifying fangs showing as he barked out his orders in a low, rumbling voice… He was as terrible as the other had been great, radiating immense anger and hatred. These ones followed out of fear. "The enemy," she whispered. The demonic one stopped in mid-sentence, as if something had startled him. "Oh no…" He was turning to face her. Surely he couldn't see her, she was a ghost… Fiery eyes focused on her. "He _does_ see me!" An evil grin slowly took shape on that terrifying face. _The face of the Devil, _she thought. One of those terrible hands reached out…

"_No!" _She abruptly found herself sitting up in bed, tangled in the sweat-drenched sheets with the Shard clutched tight enough to actually hurt. It took a few minutes of deep breathing to calm down from the state of utter hysteria she'd woken up in. "Just a dream," she said to herself. Still, it had felt so real… Like it had actually happened at some point. She decided to think no more of it and went out to start her day.

That was how it began, and how her life began to change. By night she walked on alien battlefields, always seeing the same faces and fleeing in terror from the demonic one, who at first pursued her without fail. By day she experienced the strangest things… Lights turned on as she walked past, computers rebooted and flipped through files when she was near… And she felt something strange deep inside her, some sort of… _connection_ to the demon of her dreams. It was as if her soul was falling as rain upon a parched land, or as if she was giving an indefinable _something_ to the figment of her imagination. What could only be described as an excess of life energy was pouring out of her like water flowing through a pipe. She got the sense that whatever lay at the other side of that connection was relying on her for support, as if her strange power was the only thing standing between that indefinable presence and certain extinction.

As days passed, she began to hear voices. Broken machines cried out in her mind, weeping as if in pain, telling her what was wrong and asking for her help. It was quiet at first, just a vague whisper in the back of her mind, but each passing day saw it growing louder and stronger. The connection in her mind was becoming firmer, more definable, and what seemed to her to be her own growing strength increased the flow of energy leaving her, giving more and more to whatever lay at the other end… Her dreams were changing, too. Always she would find herself standing before that silver monstrosity, but its reaction to her was no longer quite as fierce, showing less evil intent and more desperation. It wanted to reach her, _needed_ to, but it always failed to do anything more than scare her. Still, she was growing stronger, and so was whoever or whatever was linked to her. That was all, growing strength, an affinity for machines, demon-haunted dreams and a strange link to something she knew nothing about, but it didn't stay that way for long…


	2. Jets and memories

-1It seemed as though she alone could see the lone jet limping slowly through the sky, trailing thick clots of greasy black smoke behind it. She could tell from the wavering, erratic course that it was barely able to fly. Even from this distance she could tell that it was badly damaged. An entire half a wing seemed to be missing, and part of the aircraft's fuselage had a chunk taken out of it. Damaged or not, it didn't look like any aircraft she knew of. The sun came out from behind a cloud and shone upon the jet, silver sparkling like the play of sunbeams on rippling water, and the Shard in her pocket blazed red hot for a moment. And she knew. "It's _him,_" she said. She knew no name to give him, save what she saw him as… The Silver Devil. He haunted her dreams every night, him and the other one, the leader of the blue-eyed ones. She named him in the same way, by what she saw him as… The Noble Lord. Certain faces had stood out as well among the hordes, and she had named them as well. They weren't so much real names as what her mind labeled them as, the defining aspects that made them recognizable to her.

Among the red-eyed ones who served the Silver Devil there was Rains Death From Above, who decimated battlefields from the sky, Likes To Yell and his spastic partner, Moves Swiftly. Destroys Everything was always on the front lines, laying down devastation with the biggest cannon she had ever seen, as was Tosses Enemies who merely threw things around. Rains Death From Above was sometimes accompanied by Shoots Blue Fire, who also flew but preferred to walk.

The Noble Lord also had teammates who drew her attention. There was Heals Others, who helped the wounded, Says Nothing who never spoke, Always Ready who had big guns and was always willing to use them, and last of all there was Shows Off, who did just about everything with a dramatic flair that always made her giggle.

Wasting no more time, she ran down the street, following the smoke trail in the sky, hoping she could intercept him before he could do any damage as he had in her dreams. And through it all she still felt that call in her mind, the one she had learned to recognize as the voice of a damaged or broken machine crying out for her aid. The aliveness inside her, the power she had gained, sheer life force, allowed her to sprint like a marathon runner down city street after city street, block after block, out of the city. Her run took her down to a reservoir just in time to see the plume of smoke arc downward and explode into a huge gush of water that sprayed into the air, high enough to clear the forty-foot-high embankment. She paused, uncertain. The call was still there, loud and clear, but the thought of its source gave her pause. This _was_ the Silver Devil, after all. She'd seen his deeds in her dreams, how many lives he'd taken and how many more he'd ruined. Still, something else deep inside her, separate from the power she felt, urged her on. She chuckled. She never had been able to resist the urge to help someone in need, human or animal. "Looks like I'll have to extend that to mechanical," she said to herself as she began to climb the embankment, taking it slowly, step by step.


	3. She wasn't expecting it either

-1I think it's safe to say NOBODY expected this…

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing she noticed was the sounds. Grunts and growls of effort mixed with the occasion heavy impact and the sound of something being dragged. Reaching the top, she looked down. The Silver Devil of her dreams lay sprawled on the ground before her, having just finished laboriously dragging himself out of the reservoir. His right leg was completely absent from mid-thigh downward, terminating in a charred mess of melted metal. The same was the case with his left arm right below the shoulder joint. The rest of him didn't look much better. He looked as if he'd been caught in a rockslide, then stepped on three or four times. A groan escaped him. She hadn't thought that mechanical beings could feel pain, but now all doubts were gone. It took everything she had to resist the urge to work her special magic. It was then that she heard the voice that haunted her dreams. The Silver Devil seemed to be semiconscious or at least very weak as he muttered to himself about how he had to find his brother and apologize for his deeds because his brush with death had shown him how _stupid_ he had been and now he wanted to reconcile and end the madness he had started by keeping the others he'd led from pursuing the goal he now knew had been foolish… She only then realized that he'd been gathering his strength, for he began to move, reaching out with his remaining arm to drag himself forward.

All of a sudden she found herself darting to the side with a frightened squeal as those spidery claws she'd come to fear in her dreams blindly reached out and almost crushed her like a bug. All movement stopped the instant she cried out. A moment later she found herself staring him in the face. Terror filled her as memories of her nightmares piled in on her, the dreams he had haunted almost nightly… "It's you…" The menacing thunder was gone from his voice, replaced with… astonishment? That realization, coupled with what he had just said, made her feel the same. "You… you _know_ me?" There was no malice in those fiery eyes now, diabolic flames fading into a warm glow. "Before I regained consciousness, I was lost in my memories, reliving my past deeds. No matter the memory, I always saw _you_ in the background somewhere. I would try to reach you, thinking you the key to escaping the confines of my own mind, but you would always retreat, fading away before I could say anything." He relaxed again, no longer able to hold his head up to meet her gaze. She could tell he was in a world of pain and hurt, and not just the physical kind. "You know me… you know what I have done. You feared me… yet you are here. I don't understand…" Neither did she, really. She could have just as easily disregarded the sight of that alien jet in the sky, or turned away at any point during her sprint to this place. "…I don't either," she eventually concluded. He gave what sounded like a sigh. "…It doesn't matter. I managed to make it here, but I don't think I'll be going much farther. At least I was able to fly… one last time…" Her eyes widened. Was he dying?

Trying and failing to raise his head and look at her again, he spoke the only name he knew to give her. "Battle Angel…" She froze, confused yet somehow understanding that he meant her. It was like the labels her mind had given him and his cohorts in her dreams. As she had labeled him in her mind, so he had labeled her. "If you can, find my brother. You'll know him when you see him, and he'll know you. If you were in my memory-dreams, I'll lay good odds on you being in his. Tell him I'm sorry for what I did. All the lives I took… All the destruction I caused…" That broke her out of her confusion. "I'll go you one better on that. Just give me a moment here and we'll see what happens."


	4. A display of power

-1She immediately walked closer to that great hand that had almost crushed her mere moments ago, sat down and laid one hand upon the back of his. For a moment she noted how he dwarfed her. One twitch of those fearsome claws could take her head clean off her shoulders, yet no fear filled her. She knew without a doubt that he would do no such thing. Her free hand reached into her pocket and her fingertips just barely brushed up against the Shard. She found herself doing that less and less with each use of her ability. She'd also noticed how the Shard's sheen had progressively dulled as she had grown stronger. Soon it would be wholly lusterless and the power would rest solely in her.

Those thoughts immediately vanished from her mind as the power took over and she was thrust into what could only be described as a trance state. In an instant her mind and soul raced through the Silver Devil's body, along every neural cable and through every circuit, becoming one with them all. The damaged areas cried out in her mind and she lent her strength. The metal knew the way it was supposed to go, the way it wanted to be, and she let that guide her. The stumps of the missing limbs cried out for the parts they lacked and she let that guide her as well, raw energy becoming matter in seconds, metal flowing like liquid mercury and cables twining like yarn in the hands of an expert weaver.

He gasped as renewed strength flowed through him. He knew this feeling, so like the clarion call that had driven him for so long… But it couldn't be! The All Spark had been destroyed, he had seen it, had almost died from it… A presence arced through his mind like lightning, not stopping to interact but merely passing through on some unknown task. It paused. Just for a brief moment, but it paused. It almost seemed as though he knew that presence, but its momentary pause was far too short for him to identify it.

He was up in a low crouch before he even realized that he had been made whole somehow. Disbelief filled him as he flexed his fingers, looking himself over with no small amount of shock. Everything was in perfect order, as if the damage he'd had previously had been no more than a passing dream. Then he felt it. It was like the call he had felt before, the All Spark inciting him to madness, but now it wasn't so much a call as a presence in his mind that said 'here I am; come find me'. "The All Spark… It still exists?"

Calming his turbulent thoughts as he had done uncountable times before during his bloody quest, he tried to sense the location of the All Spark. Very close… Almost on top of him… A little to his right… He looked to the exact spot he'd sensed and saw the human female he had come to call the Battle Angel. That was odd… He bent down closer to her for a better look, but backed off slightly as she recoiled. "Your dreams… Did you see a cube? A metal cube with markings on it?" She nodded. "Well… yes!" His voice took on an urgent tone. "What did it do? What did you see?" She scratched her head, wondering why it meant so much to him. "In my dreams it explodes into fragments that go flying all over, but then the explosion reverses itself and all the fragments shoot into me. Then there's this… this _light, _and… That's usually when I switch to dreaming about battles." Realizing that there was quite a bit of explaining to do, he settled down. "Battle Angel…" She shook her head. _"Sarah," _she said with a gentle smile, beginning to feel less and less afraid in his presence. "My name is Sarah." He repeated her name to himself softly as if testing it, a smile taking shape on his face to echo hers. "And I am Megatron."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What does it take to get people to review this junk? At least tell me how I'm doing!


	5. What I am, what I've done

-1"You see, it all began when I found _this_…" Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the Shard. "I found it in a pile of wreckage on a street in Mission City when they finally let us back in after whatever happened there." He looked a little embarrassed. "…_I_ happened." His tone of voice made her decide to speak no more of it. Holding out the Shard for him to see, she noted that it had become entirely black, like a piece of coal or charred firewood. "…It's strange. This thing used to be all shiny and stuff. Every time I use my power I get stronger, and this shines less and less. It's… I don't know. It's like whatever power it held is in _me_ now." Once again stilling his mind, he tried to sense exactly where the All Spark's power hummed strongest. "It is. The Shard you hold is empty of whatever power it held. It's all in you now. For all intents and purposes, you have _become_ the All Spark." Something deep inside her recognized the name. "This is… terribly familiar…"

Giving a sigh, she stared at her hands for a long moment. "It didn't take long for me to start hearing the voices… The internet server crashed at the office I work in a few days after I first found the Shard. I could hear it… It was crying… Restore me, it called out. Let me go back to being as I was; let me do what I was meant to do. They fixed it after a couple hours of work, but I couldn't get over the feeling that I could have done so with a mere touch. It was so confusing, yet so familiar… Like something I'd done a thousand times before. When dreaming, I'm taken to another world, time and time again. A whole planet cries out for my touch…" She sighed. "Whenever I see that planet in my dreams, a voice inside my heart calls out… This is where I'm meant to be, or to go. But I… What I did, there were people who _wanted_ that, who wanted _me_…" She shook her head, voice rising as dream-memories surfaced. "Oh God, I… _I think I caused a war!_"

He didn't know what to say, or if to say anything at all. The All Spark had bonded with her; indeed, she _was_ the All Spark. What right did he have to speak words of comfort after what he had done? "You," she said abruptly, startling him. "It was you. All of it… The war… You started it, didn't you?" He looked away in shame. "…Yes." Human history popped into her mind as well as the phantom memories of the alien war. "As long as power exists, so will those who seek to claim it. That's something this planet knows all too well." That thought brought on a realization that made her gasp. "When the world at large finds out about me, everybody and their proverbial grandmother will try to get me! Every nation on the face of the Earth will want to own me! It'll start again… The war will start again and _another_ world will die!" He looked down at her, noting how small and weak she looked, the All Spark's power locked in a human form. So small and fragile, yet so powerful! Here, perhaps, could be his redemption… "Then I will protect you."


	6. Peace shattered

-1I'm not sure how to space things correctly (i.e.: no clue at all), so this is how it's going to be. I hope you guys can bear with me.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Both of them were completely surprised when the first few tanks cleared the embankment. Sarah screamed. Megatron practically jumped to his feet. _"Get behind me!" _His tone of voice silenced her objections before she could voice them, and so she merely darted behind his right leg as he got ready for a fight. The air was torn to fluttering shreds as a swarm of helicopters entered the area, at which point he opened fire with a cannon cleverly hidden within his right forearm. The helicopters scattered like a seven-ten bowling split as one launched what had to be a harpoon, the large and formidable spearhead cleaving the air to strike true and bite deep, impaling Megatron's right wrist and disabling the cannon momentarily. A low growl escaped him and he pulled on the line hard enough to throw the offending helicopter out of the air, what looked like a chain-whip taking shape in his left hand. A single lash of that deadly whip sent two helicopters plummeting from the sky in balls of flames, and the All Spark within Sarah could hear their cries. Several shots took out several tanks, aimed straight and true by an expert marksman. Backing off a bit, the tanks fired back. The projectiles they fired weren't designed to pierce or to explode; rather they were oversized pellets of liquid nitrogen. Bringing his right arm up to block, he winced as the shells impacted, liquid nitrogen going just about everywhere save behind him, and for that he was glad. He drew his whip back for the mightiest swing yet… and started in surprise as not one but _three_ harpoons lanced his left wrist. He tried to pull free, but the combined might of three helicopters was enough to disable his whip and pin his arm there. A snarl erupted from his throat as he shifted his attention to using his right hand to rip the lines out of him… only to have three more harpoons strike his right wrist. Shock froze him in his place momentarily, just long enough for the tanks to fire another round. Now he was sure of it. They wanted to freeze him again, to take him back to where he had been before. _"_…_N_…_no!" _The liquid nitrogen was coating him, covering him, his external and internal temperature falling rapidly, just as it had the day he arrived on the planet… Just like before, his mind was blurring. The shots just kept coming, more and more ice forming, restricting his movements, _trapping_ him… He was dimly aware that the human he had vowed to protect mere minutes before was charging out from behind him, dashing out into the open and entering the danger zone even as the assault brought him to his knees. It occurred to him that she was trying to intercede on his behalf.

Sarah stepped between Megatron and the Army as a whole with her arms flung wide. _"Stop it! Stop hurting him!" _She couldn't take it anymore, couldn't just hang back and watch someone fight for their life… _"He wasn't _doing_ anything!" _The helicopters had joined in the barrage of liquid nitrogen and no one heard her. _"Leave him alone!" _Tears of profound rage clouded her vision just as much as the turbulence whipping her hair in her face. She could almost feel something building inside her, something called forth by her desperate anger, and had she bothered to notice she would have seen blue lightning crawling across her skin. _"Stop it! Just_…_" _With every ounce of strength in her body, her mind and her very soul, she tilted her head back and screamed. _**"…STOP!"**_

A storm of blue lightning erupted from her now shining body, licking tendrils reaching out to each helicopter, each tank… and in its wake, everything stopped. The tanks sat like lumps and the helicopters just hovered where they were. Behind her, dimly aware that things had stopped, Megatron opened blurry eyes to behold her shine. His sense of the All Spark's location was going crazy, but he didn't need it to know the origin and nature of the power being unleashed right in front of him. Sarah still shone like a star, and her voice, when she spoke, was more powerful and commanding than even his. _"Stand down weapons." _His sensitive hearing picked up the confused and irate cries of soldiers as the weapons systems in each and every tank and helicopter powered down. She looked up at the helicopters. _"Disengage harpoons." _Each and every helicopter that had participated in the attempt to tether him summarily cut their towlines. It was then that he understood that the All Spark could do more than give life and repair damage… What it offered was nothing less than total control over all things mechanical. _"Return to base." _More yells came from the Army vehicles as each and every one of them turned and left quietly.

With the barrage ended, Megatron's core temperature was returning to normal, his mental faculties sharpening once again. "Sarah?" She fell to her knees as the light began to die away to reveal her, and to reveal that she had… changed. The intricate designs that had once adorned the All Spark now covered her skin, delicate traceries seemingly made of solid blue fire. "What happened to me?" His armor clattered lightly as the last of the liquid nitrogen dissipated, but he stayed down on his knees. "You used a facet of the All Spark's power that no one ever dreamed existed… And it appears to have marked you." Looking herself over, she eventually giggled. "I always wondered what I would look like if I got a tattoo… Now I know!" What he didn't know, or couldn't tell, was that her giggle was completely forced. In reality, she was more terrified than she had ever been before. Her life just seemed to be going down the tubes. Perhaps she was losing her mind. Perhaps this was all just a figment of her imagination. Yes, maybe it was all in her head…


	7. Oh slag

-1"We can't stay here." Megatron's voice startled her out of her reverie. "They'll come back, and I'm willing to bet that any Decepticon within five hundred miles of here felt you do that." The influx of data from the All Spark that word triggered would have stopped her in her tracks had he not snapped her out of it. "Come on, Sarah. Take a few steps back and I'll get us out of here." She did so and watched in awe as his body flexed in ways she had deemed impossible, metal flowing like liquid mercury, until that same silver jet sat on the grass before her. The cockpit canopy opened of its own accord. "Get in." Stepping backward, she balked, uncertain about the idea of flying in a living jet and equally uncertain about where exactly his voice was coming from. "But I…" His voice roared at her, unwilling to allow her to waste time on such foolish things. _"I said get in!" _An instant later she was in the seat and the canopy was closing over her.

Megatron knew he had to find his brother. There was no way he could do this alone, not with the humans after him and the other Decepticons after the girl. Much as the thought worried him, he knew there was no other way… He had to find the Autobots. It wasn't finding them that caused him the most concern, but what would come next. How would they react to him? He had been their greatest enemy for so long, and he was also supposed to be dead. This would be no warm welcome, to say the least. Would they even give him time to explain, or would they just shoot him out of the sky on sight? Driving the doubt from his mind to be dealt with later, he set his scanners to their highest sensitivity and longest range and took off. Sensing his uncertainty, Sarah immediately began giving him advice. "You'll want to avoid going too high. The higher altitudes are reserved for cargo planes and civilian transports. Air traffic is heavily regulated and any intrusion will be met with force. Conversely, going too low is also not too good. People tend to be frightened by low-flying aircraft, and attracting unwanted attention is probably a bad thing for us. …Are you detectable on radar or other human instrumentation?" His reply came quickly. "No. Your people's technology is far too primitive to detect me. I am invisible to everything your species has save their eyes." She detected a hint of smugness in his voice, but paid it no mind. "Then the middle should be the way to go… below the commercial air traffic but sufficiently high up as to avoid being seen or heard." No reply came, but he ascended to the specified altitude and they traveled in silence for a long while.

"I've found them," he said to her eventually, beginning to descend. "Hang on in there. Hopefully they'll let me…!" His voice trailed off into a wordless cry as a powerful laser blast streaked by, close enough to singe his wing. Several unintelligible curses echoed in the cockpit as he took evasive action, swerving sideways as more blasts streaked by. Tapping into every communication frequency available in the world and a few that humans hadn't discovered yet, he spoke to his assailant rather than fire back. _"Hold your fire! I have a passenger! I have a_…_!" _His words dissolved into a piercing scream of agony as a laser blast aimed straight and true blew his right wing clean off at the base. Sarah screamed as well, but hers was a cry of terror. Her immediate reaction was to try to tap into the power of the All Spark to repair him, but the terror she felt thwarted her every effort. His thrusters were working overtime as he struggled to stay aloft. "Sarah, you have to eject!" His voice was filled with the strain of fighting the laws of aerodynamics that would have him spinning to a fatal crash. He couldn't keep this up much longer, and both of them knew it. "And leave you to face plant yourself behind enemy lines? _No way!_" They were falling fast, way too fast to make anything remotely resembling a safe landing. "_That wasn't a request, _Sarah!" Since she wouldn't do it herself, he did it for her. No small amount of satisfaction filled him as he heard his cockpit canopy shatter and her seat's rocket boosters sounding off exactly as they should, even as the ground came up to meet him. A sudden blast of mind-bending agony raced through his body and drew a pain-filled shriek from him, but darkness closed in before he could utter it. 


	8. It IS a pretty scary thought

-1Ironhide's a bit of a jerk in this.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The crippled aircraft carved a sizeable gouge in the grassy earth as it slammed into the ground and skidded, then came to rest, smoke billowing from the missing wing. Ironhide smirked. He'd known better than to fall for a trick like that. Bumblebee came racing up beside him in car mode, and Ironhide was surprised to hear him blaring angry music as he swerved around the larger Autobot before transforming and glaring up at him. "Uh, Ironhide? You _do_ realize that Megatron really _was_ carrying somebody with him, right?" The weapons specialist was aghast. Bumblebee nodded. "We all saw him eject something right before he hit. He had a passenger, all right. _Nice one, _Ironhide."

Both of them froze in mid-sentence as the crashed jet transformed. Megatron was down on hands and knees, head down, wavering as if simply holding himself up was taking every ounce of strength he had left. Still, a moment later he was able to force himself to his feet, revealing the extent of the damage he'd taken. His entire right side was a total mess, not just from the shot he'd taken in jet mode but from the crash as well. His right arm was badly mangled and almost completely severed, to the point where it hung dead at his side, and his right leg was little better. Also completely mangled, it looked as though it would fracture at any moment. Still, he was standing, glaring at the two of them in silent fury. Wavering slightly, he began to limp closer, his whip taking shape in his left hand. He had come in peace and been refused. Perhaps a show of force would convince them to listen… Bumblebee stood back as Ironhide charged both his cannons. "That shot was meant to disable. The next one will kill. Back down or I _will_ fire!"

"_Hold it!" _That rough, raw-sounding feminine voice echoed in the comparative silence and all four of them turned to behold a girl patterned in blue running in at an absurd speed. Blue electricity crackled across her skin, the corona growing brighter with each loping stride, and as she took up a position in the middle of what seemed to be about to become a battlefield, a single tendril of blue fire arced out to brush up against Ironhide, a move that startled him more than anything else. She stood before the two with arms spread wide, using herself as a living shield, her corona blazing like a small star. "Don't you dare. _Don't. You. Dare._" An emergency vehicle and a flame-painted big rig pulled in and transformed as Ratchet and Optimus arrived on the scene, just in time to see what happened next. Standing tall and proud, her demeanor as regal as any queen as her electricity spread out to play around them all, she spoke only three words. _"Stand down weapons." _Ironhide swore over and over in a variety of human and nonhuman languages as his cannons powered down of their own accord. All the others experienced the same, save for Optimus, who had his sword. This was downright astonishing to all of them, but not as astonishing as the girl herself. All of them, each and every one, recognized her. She walked in their minds whenever they went dormant to recharge, wandering through memories of war and carnage, untouched in the eye of the storm. "There doesn't have to be any more fighting. The war is over, isn't it? The last Decepticon came to you in peace and you shot him down. _Who's the aggressor now, huh?_" Uncertain but seeing her point, they hesitantly lowered their useless weapons. In response, her blue corona almost seemed to power down, the electricity returning to its emergence point… the swirling blue lines that ran across her whole body. As it dissipated, she staggered slightly.

Behind her, Megatron fell to his knees, his whip retracting as the damage he'd taken now took its toll. _"Megatron!" _Shouting his name, the girl was kneeling by his side in an instant, trying to summon forth that blue corona again. She failed, in that only the greatest effort on her part produced anything, and that was only a weak crackle. The Autobots watched in awe, every scanner they had going utterly haywire, as the damage Megatron had taken began to slowly… oh so slowly… reverse itself. "It can't be," Optimus said finally, after quite a bit of staring. "The All Spark was destroyed. I saw it myself." Ratchet ran a systems check to make sure his scanners weren't malfunctioning and gave a shudder when he realized they weren't. This didn't go over well with the others, since the medic rarely let anything get to him. It was only then that the full ramifications hit them all. If what they were seeing and what their scanners were showing was correct, then what they had feared more than anything had come to pass. Megatron had obtained the All Spark.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

…I'd be scared too.


	9. Nobody expected THAT

-1Think about it. Megatron has Sarah. Sarah pretty much _is_ the All Spark, since it merged with her and she has its power. In having Sarah, Megatron has the All Spark.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The worst of the damage was gone. The rest could conceivably wait, although fighting would have to be out of the question. He looked down at her and she smiled up at him as if to say 'It's okay, I don't mind helping out'. For a moment, he found himself smiling back at her… Only to start in shock as she abruptly collapsed. Moving swiftly, he was able to catch her before she hit the dirt. Handling her as if she were a sculpture crafted of the finest spun glass rather than a living being, he picked her up. "…Sarah? Sarah?" She wasn't waking up. What could he do? One wrong move and his claws could tear her to shreds. "Sarah, you shouldn't have tried to do that…" He marveled at the soft tone in his voice. When was the last time he had been gentle? When was the last time he had actually cared about somebody other than himself? She was his shot at redemption, sure, but did it really stop there? She had walked through his dreams so many times that he felt as if she were an old friend now, even though they had only really met mere hours ago…

It was only then that he noticed the Autobots staring at him. Uncertain, he hesitantly stood up, holding Sarah cupped in his hands, and slowly walked closer. Her passing out had negated whatever she had done to their guns, so Ironhide and Bumblebee both charged their cannons and took aim. Optimus wondered how to get the human away from Megatron. Ratchet, for his part, just stared. The damaged Decepticon held his precious cargo out to the Autobot leader. "Here… Take her." This confused the lot of them. If this small human did indeed possess the power of the All Spark, then why would Megatron willingly give her up? Putting aside his questions and doubts, Optimus gently took the unconscious human. At that point, Ironhide and Bumblebee closed ranks before him, between him and the Decepticon, cannons aimed at Megatron's chest. A shot at that range would result in an instant fatality, and the lot of them knew it. Ratchet stepped forward, toward Optimus and his cargo. "Lay her on the ground so I can scan her." The Autobot leader did just that, laying her on her back, arms by her sides. His shadow fell over her still form, and both of them noticed something. The blue marks that adorned her were glowing with their own light. "Odd…" In seconds the beams of Ratchet's scanners played over her still form, laying muscle and bone bare for all to see… "She seems to be a typical human… or to have been one at one point. Her body is… changing. Her bones are now made of the same alloy as any one of us, and her heart…" Ratchet paused. "Well, she doesn't have one anymore. She has a spark, and a spark chamber to house it. The patterns on her skin appear to be pure energy. It's muted right now, probably from overtaxing a system unused to handling energy in this way, but… our scanners are right, Optimus. This human… _is_ the All Spark." The Autobot leader was downright shocked. "How is that possible?" A deep voice cut in on their conversation. "She found a fragment of the original All Spark," Megatron said, restlessly jockeying to see past the two Autobots holding him at gunpoint.

Optimus turned to his brother. "Megatron… how are you alive?" The Decepticon grinned. "You should know me by now, Brother. I don't die easily. I came close, but _she_ saved me." A realization dawned. "So when the humans dumped your remains in the ocean, you were… the whole time?" Megatron nodded, his grin fading as he looked down in shame. "I had a lot of time to think down there… And to remember. I can't believe how _stupid_ I was! The things I did… How did I rationalize such mass destruction? How did I lose sight of my duty as Lord High Protector? Thinking back on it all, it just seems so… so…" He abruptly turned away. "It would have been better if I _had_ died down there…" Optimus had no idea how to react. After millennia of growing up and then working side by side, he could read his brother like an open book. There was no deceit here, no attempt to lie. The words, and the emotions behind them, were genuine. The Autobot leader stepped forward. A glance toward Ironhide, then toward Bumblebee, and the two backed down without a word. Not a word was spoken as Optimus walked over to where his brother now sat.

He'd never seen Megatron look so… forlorn before. It made sense, though. To bear the guilt of such monstrous deeds… These were the thoughts passing through Optimus's mind as he sat down next to his brother. Not a word was spoken for a long moment. A bitter chuckle broke the silence. "It's ironic," Megatron said. "I spent millennia searching the whole galaxy for the All Spark, fought, betrayed and killed for it… All of it for nothing. Yet the _moment_ I decide to cease my hunt…" He gestured toward where the girl lay. "There it lies, right in front of me, ready and wide open for the taking." Optimus tried to look him in the eyes, but he refused to meet his brother's gaze. "What now, Megatron? You live, you have changed your ways, and Fate has handed you the All Spark in the form of a living being…" Megatron cut him off. _"Sarah." _The sharpness of his voice surprised them both. "…Her name is Sarah." Optimus started over. "You live, the All Spark exists once more, in the form of Sarah… What now?" There was no pause. "I'm going to protect her," he said in a determined voice, curling his hands into fists. "I won't let the other Decepticons continue to follow my former ways, and I won't let them have her. I won't let the humans have her either. They'd want the same thing. I'd like to bring her home, to regenerate our world, but not until the other Decepticons go down." He paused. "The strange part is, I'm more worried about dealing with the humans. They don't just want her, they want _me_ too. They attacked the both of us right before I flew over here and they tried to freeze me again, to take me back to that bunker to _study_ me." He spat that word as if it were the vilest curse imaginable. "Sarah saved me with the power of the All Spark. Optimus, the All Spark has powers we never dreamed existed… It can give life, it can regenerate… But it gives Sarah complete control over all things mechanical. That was how she saved me. She took control of the humans' war machines." He chuckled. "It was the darnedest thing, Optimus. A few words from her and they all just turned around and went home, quiet as can be." The Autobot had a question. "Was it anything like what she just did to our weapons?" Megatron nodded. "_Exactly_ like that."

There was a long pause, during which he finally met his brother's gaze. "I know I have no right to ask this of you or your colleagues, but… for _her_ sake… help me. I can't fight all of them alone. I mean, if it was just the Decepticons, or just the humans…" There was a sharp clang as metal hand met metal faceplate. "…Who am I kidding? I shouldn't even have come here. I wanted to seek redemption, but I doubt your colleagues would believe that, much less accept it, so I guess there's only one way for me to fulfill my promise to her." He paused. "I will leave her here, with you…" This clinched it in Optimus's mind. In essence, Megatron was _giving _himthe All Spark. "As for me, I'll lead the humans on a merry chase for as long as I can… get them as far away from you as possible." It seemed to take quite a bit of effort for Megatron to just stand, but stand he did. "I don't belong here anyway… not after what I did. I'll… I'll just go." Also standing up, Optimus watched his brother slowly limp away, but only for a moment. Megatron actually _flinched_ slightly at the sensation of a gentle hand coming to rest on his shoulder. "…Optimus?" The Autobot leader's voice, when he spoke, was rather quiet. "We need you here. The All Spark girl… Sarah you called her… is still out. But we'll need your help once she wakes up. Judging by how she was acting earlier, you're probably the only one she trusts." Megatron chuckled again. "That's odd, especially considering that she knows about all of my deeds." Optimus froze. "Wait a minute, she knows about the war? Before we even came to this planet?" The Decepticon nodded. "It's like your medic said. She _is_ the All Spark. And surely the fact that she was in my dreams means _something_…" The proverbial bomb dropped. "She's been in all our dreams, Megatron. Mine… Yours… Ratchet's… Ironhide's… Bumblebee's…" He paused. "Megatron, the long and short of it is that we need you here when she wakes up. If you're not here, she'll probably panic, and since she has the All Spark's power, her panicking could do some major damage."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heheh, confusion all around!


	10. The All Spark's power

-1The first thing Sarah noticed was that she had to be lying on the ground. Not bothering to open her eyes quite yet, she listened to what was going on around her. The sound of metal on metal, metal on other things, maddeningly familiar voices… Wait, voices? Opening her eyes, she immediately beheld the distinguished visage of Ratchet. The scream he had been expecting didn't come. What came instead surprised him. "It's you…" Sitting up, she looked around and amended her previous statement. "…_All_ of you." Not too sure about the strange human, unwilling to just buy into all the crazy talk of her _being_ the All Spark, Bumblebee took a hesitant step closer. "Uh… Who are you and how did you get in my dreams?" Her reaction to his words absolutely floored him. "You can talk now?" Words were long in forming. _"How did you_…_"_ But she had already moved on. Her gaze drifted across them all, lingering in a momentary glare at Ironhide followed by a smile at Megatron, then settling upon Optimus. Speaking not a word, she quietly walked closer until she stood right in front of him. What she did next surprised all of them. Straightening up tall, she saluted him, military style. "Uh… Sarah Hornsby reporting for duty… I think…" Somehow she had recognized him as the leader. He knelt down before her, bringing himself down to her level. "Hello… Sarah. I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. Over here is Ratchet, our resident medic." Ratchet nodded. "…This is Bumblebee, covert tactics specialist." Bumblebee had only one thing to say. "Hey, you never answered my question." Once again he was ignored. "…And I believe you've already met Ironhide, weapons specialist." Sarah and Ironhide engaged in a death glare.

Then she asked a question that once again proved her connection to their dreams, and to the All Spark. "Where is the other one, the one who shows off? Where is he?" She didn't have to see their faces to sense the pain in the air. "…Oh." Ironhide snarled at her, angry at being reminded of his comrade's death. "Your Decepticon 'friend' over there killed him." There was a pause. "You're a fool to trust him. He'll betray you, just like he betrayed everyone else." The Decepticon in question gave an irate shout. _"Hey!" _His cry was ignored. "You really think he won't? I wouldn't be surprised if he did. What's one little life to him? He's taken billions of lives without a care, so what's one more?" Walking over, Ratchet swatted him. "_Quit scaring the human, _Ironhide." Turning to Sarah, he then said, "Jazz is dead and, yes, Megatron killed him. I'm fixing up his body as best I can, so we can lay him to rest in a fitting manner." Sarah had only one response. _"Show me."_

The barn looked perfectly ordinary, but the inside had been renovated and then some. Now it looked like some kind of space-age cross between a hospital and a mechanic's workshop. Tools lay scattered about the room. Sarah couldn't discern their function. None of the things she saw made too much sense, save the workbench and the lifeless body positioned upon it. "Jazz," she whispered. Both Ratchet and she herself were confused at how it seemed almost like all of them were old friends, even despite the fact that Sarah hadn't met any of them before that day. Still, the sight of him lying dead on the table brought tears to her eyes. Climbing up the table like a little monkey, she sat on her haunches next to the lifeless body and cried. Reaching out, she laid her hand upon his spark chamber, not sure why she felt as though that was the right thing to do in this case.

"…I wanted so badly to meet you…" The strangest feeling came over her. She could sense his presence, _feel_ him, as if he were right there before her, alive and well. His soul, his _life_ seemed to hang in the air around her. "H-he's here…" What came next felt absurdly natural, as if she were experiencing a taste of things to come, a glimpse of what her powers were meant for. _Hey there, little lady_… His soul whispered in her mind as it passed through, funneling through her body, channeled by the All Spark's power. A shudder ran through her as she felt the energy surge along her arm, toward her hand where it rested on Jazz's spark chamber. "Your friends want you back," she said out loud, confusing the absolute heck out of Ratchet. "Would you like me to…" The reply swirled around her like a warm breeze. _Sure would, if you don't mind. _She giggled. "Then I will!"

For an instant the blue fire consumed her very being and in that moment she wasn't Sarah at all. There was nothing save the power filling her and the objective at hand. It was her duty, her _function_ to repair and renew, to breathe life into worthy forms. "Repository of souls…" The living sought her out, the dead flocked to her, for she was the focal point for both. "Life giver…" She was nothing less than the boundary between life and death, the gateway to the spirit world, and hers was the power to cross that boundary as she saw fit. "I _am_ the All Spark…" She had never really thought about what that meant, hadn't realized just how powerful she truly was. _This_ was why so many wanted her. The tide was rising within her, pushing her higher, making her pulse rate soar and her body shiver; she never dreamed it was possible to feel like this as power and life surged through her, pouring forth from her in a waterfall of pure energy…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why am I doing this, you ask? Well, when the time comes, they're going to need all the help they can get!


	11. He means it

-1Given the response my Sonic story got (pretty much none at all), I'm surprised people are actually reading this.

G1 Jazz's personality here. I'm more familiar with this version.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 11: He means it

As soon as it had begun, it was over. The power fled from her drained body and she would have fallen clean off the workbench, were it not for the giant hand that reached out to catch her. Recovering her wits, she looked up into the smiling face of Jazz just in time for both of them to look over and see Ratchet fall over like a ton of bricks. "I think we broke him," Jazz quipped to her. She just smiled. "I'm… very happy to see you." A moment later she turned to look at where Ratchet had fallen. "Should I see about helping him?" He shook his head. "He'll be fine, little lady. Just a little surprised, is all. How 'bout we go say hello to the others?" Sarah nodded as he began to exit the barn. "I need to warn you, though, about who brought me here. It was…" Jazz stepped out of the barn to the utterly flabbergasted stares of everyone who stood there, including the one Ironhide and Bumblebee guarded. _"_…_Megatron_…_" _Sarah spoke the Decepticon's name in a squeak as Jazz's demeanor reversed itself completely. An instant later she had been thrust onto his shoulder like a parrot from one of those old-time pirate movies, and he had his own cannon out and was charging it to blow his erstwhile murderer away. "Just hang on tight, little lady. This shouldn't take more than a second or two." His comrades' reactions made no sense in that they were attempting to defend Megatron, but it didn't matter since he had a job to do and there was no way they could get to him before he let off his shot…

Blue fire surged around him, through him, filling him with the power of the All Spark, that unmistakable power…_ "Stand down weapons." _The girl's voice was so different in that moment that the only thing that tipped him off to it being hers was that it came from his shoulder. His cannon powered down of its own accord as Sarah hopped down and walked in front of him. "Jazz, please let me explain. Megatron has changed. The mere fact that he brought me here is enough proof for Optimus… I think, since there hasn't been a fight yet. As to why the fact that he handed me over is important… I _am_ the All Spark." He'd realized that before, what she was, but its significance only then hit him. Megatron had obtained what he had killed so many for… only to hand it over to his greatest enemy. That realization made him lower his cannon, at which point Sarah released her control over his weapons. "You reacted just the same as everyone else," she said in a disappointed tone. "I thought you would be different, but you're not." Saying no more, she turned away and walked past the Autobots, brushing by both Ironhide and Bumblebee without a word, to stand beside Megatron, who was downright shocked by her actions. Still she spoke not a word as she summoned forth her blue corona to repair the damage he had taken from being shot down. Completing her self-appointed task, she smiled up at him sweetly. "I've made my choice… I stay with you." Completely floored, the repentant Decepticon shot Optimus a look that spoke volumes about how utterly unexpected Sarah's actions had been. Megatron was at a loss as to what to do next. His original plan had been to turn her over to the Autobots and leave. He'd thought that she would be glad to join them, to get away from him. She knew what he had done, what atrocities he had committed in his quest for the power she now held… and yet she wanted to stay with him?

What Megatron did next proved his sincerity to literally everyone. He knelt beside her, an action that seemed absurd coming from a Decepticon, seeing as Decepticons normally never deigned to deal with 'lesser creatures' on their level. "Sarah," he said in a voice that held a slight hint of urgency, "_You have to stay here. _They can protect you far better than I can." No reply came forth from her, but her silence said it all. "…Fine," he concluded, standing back up. Looking to his brother, an idea came to him. "I want you under Autobot protection, Sarah. If this is the only way to do that, then _so be it._" Not wasting so much as a moment, Megatron marched up to his brother and did the one thing none of them had ever _dreamed_ he would consider… Holding his arms out before him, both his weapons laid bare before his brother, he looked Optimus dead in the eyes and spoke two simple words. "I surrender." All the Autobots were completely floored by that, but not nearly as much as Sarah. "Megatron… You'd do this for…" Glaring over his shoulder, his voice was low and sharp as he interrupted her. _"If you know what's good for you, you will not finish that sentence." _Sarah promptly shut up.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Did that floor ya? If the answer is yes, that's good, because you're feeling exactly how the characters are feeling.


	12. Cop cars can be hazardous to your health

-1"Now, I'm sure you most likely have some personal items to get from your home before we leave the Mission City area," Optimus said to Sarah. "Would you be willing for either Jazz or Bumblebee to escort you?" She shook her head. "In all likelihood, a Decepticon would probably recognize any one of you on sight. Traveling with one of your friends would most likely only serve to attract attention. I see where you're coming from with this, attempting to protect me, but I think I had best do this alone. After all, do I really look that much different from a normal human?" All of them looked her over. Aside from the blue marks, she looked perfectly normal. "I can pass these off as tattoos. I've seen a couple people with this sort of style, actually…" Optimus nodded, seeing her point. "All the same, you'd best hurry." Stretching slightly, she grinned up at him. "I don't get tired anymore. I can run as far as I wish, as fast as I wish, for as long as I wish. Just watch me." With that, she was off, taking care to keep her speed low enough to pass for a jogger's pace, easy, loping strides covering much ground and carrying her out of sight.

The trip into the city was very quiet. Sure she got a couple odd looks from the occasional passer-by, but no one got in her way. Entering her apartment, she grabbed a backpack and crammed in several changes of clothes, and grabbed all her money, every cent. A quick phone call let the landlord know that she would be gone for a while, and to hold on to her mail while she was out. So far, so good. Packing a few more personal items, she took great care to deadbolt her door before exiting the building to return to her new friends. She was actually fairly anxious to leave Mission City as far behind her as she could, at least long enough to deal with the Decepticons and her new-found powers. If they were really that hot to get her, then they would surely decimate the whole city to get her.

Halfway through the city, she became aware of the cop car shadowing her. It was running silently, no sirens or anything, staying a good distance away, but she just got a bad feeling about it. "He's watching me," she said to herself. This wasn't an ordinary cop car. Somehow she could just tell. Almost as if sensing her thoughts, it began to close the distance between them; still no sirens or lights. "I have to get off the street! If this is who I think it is, then surely he won't blow his cover and pursue me…" Looking around she spotted a likely escape route… an electronics store. If she made her way out via their loading bay… Spinning on her heel, she took all her forward momentum into a full-speed sprint towards the store's entrance, flinging the door open and hitting the floor like a baseball player sliding into home base even as a huge dark shape reared up behind her and followed. The display window shattered into a veil of sparkling glass rain as what had once been the cop car glared down at her with malevolent red eyes. A name came to her, a name she should not know, information given by the All Spark… _"Barricade!" _The newly revealed Decepticon paused. "You _know_ me?" An evil grin took shape. "You betray yourself, little human. Had you kept silent, I might have not recognized you for what you are and let you run free a little longer!" Crouching down low, completely disregarding the panic taking shape in the streets behind him, he entered the store to claim his prize.

Panicked beyond all belief, Sarah sort of crab-crawled backward, not too picky about where she ended up as long as it was away from the Decepticon. Her terror only increased when she felt her back bump up against a counter. Was there nowhere left to retreat to? Fumbling sideways, trying to feel for the counter's side since she didn't dare take her eyes off Barricade, she accidentally grabbed a power cord and pulled it. An embarrassing yelp escaped her as something heavy fell off the counter, bounced off her head and landed in her lap. A disconnected part of her mind noted that the sleek cherry red boom box she now held was pretty cool looking. That thought left her mind as she saw Barricade's hand reaching out to grab her. She wished she'd agreed to Optimus's offer of an escort, since at least there would have been someone to help her. If only there was someone, _anyone_ would do… Something pulsed through her, an indefinable sensation that reminded her of how it had felt reviving Jazz. This was different, though; not quite the same but close.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three guesses what's coming…


	13. Rumble is indeed red

-1If you saw this coming, you're either a fricken genius or a master of the obvious. Either one, really.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 13: Rumble is indeed red

A loud burst of white noise drew her attention to the fact that Barricade was frozen in shock because the boom box was… changing. The spindly, insect-like being wasted no time in leaping at the Decepticon's face, another spurt of white noise taking the place of a war cry, kicking and clawing frantically. Sarah was frozen because she knew who this resembled, red hues taking the place of cool blue on an otherwise perfect twin of Frenzy…

Backing out of the ruined store, Barricade resumed his cop car form and sped away as the spiky little creature that had been the boom box hopped down and looked around. It seemed agitated, or at least nervous, as it whipped its head from side to side before jumping onto the counter it had been on previously and perching there like an extremely twitchy gargoyle. Sarah decided to approach it. "Easy now… Easy…" Red eyes fixed on her as she slowly stepped closer, reaching out with one hand. It seemed to be acting like a dog crossed with a small child as it let her touch it, not really seeming to mind her fingertips brushing the spikes at the top of its head. "You can tell what I am, can't you. You can tell that it was me who changed you." A moment later she yelped as it jumped past her to cling to the broken wall like an oversized metal gecko, nervously scanning the street. Its antics made her giggle. "Well, _you're_ quite the little scrapper." Satisfied for the moment by what it either saw or didn't see, it hopped back down to the ground. "Always ready to rumble, huh?" Not staying put for a moment, it seemed to be on the lookout for more enemies to fight. A smile took shape on her face. "As a matter of fact, I think that's what I'll call you. You are a boy, I think, and your name will be _Rumble._" Sarah just about lost it when the target of her attention echoed her last word and spoke his new name. "Rumble!" He seemed happy with her choice as he bounced up and down excitedly, chanting his new name all the while. She took a moment to notice how his odd, squeaking voice suited his small size and frenetic nature… before the former boom box spoke again. "Human girl not st-st-stay here. Dangerous. Enemy maybe come back." Sarah nodded and Rumble moved a little closer. "Not safe al-al-alone. Rumble go with." To further emphasize his point, he leapt at her like a fairly small and hyperactive metallic tiger… only to land in her arms as that same cherry red boom box. "Wow… Didn't know I could do that. I wonder how the others will take this…"

It was late in the afternoon, a bit later than she would have liked, when she came strolling back into the area. "I'm back," she called out to the odd assembly of vehicles she saw there, alien aircraft included "Sorry I took so long," she added as they transformed. "I was… distracted." Optimus echoed her last word questioningly, prompting an explanation. "I'd really rather not talk about it, but I guess you deserve to know. Barricade is alive." Those words carried an implication with them, an implication as to how she had found this out… Megatron was the first to respond. "Barricade attacked you." The statement wasn't phrased as a question. He was merely stating a fact. Optimus, however, had a real question. "How did you manage to escape?" Looking down, Sarah shifted uncomfortably, the red boom box she held bumping against her thigh. A moment later she was holding it out before her. "That's where _this_ comes into things." Optimus looked it over. "How could a portable sound system have aided you in escaping from a Decepticon?" The response came swiftly. "I'll show you." Placing the boom box on the ground, she took a few steps back. "Rumble, you can come out now. These are my friends." Utter shock filled the lot of them as the boom box transformed and leapt straight upward, that same spiky shape they'd all come to know…_ "Decepticon!" _

Ironhide had his cannons out in less than a millisecond, taking aim and preparing to fire. His target reacted spectacularly. Jumping straight up with a high-pitched scream, Rumble was behind Sarah in an instant, down in a duck-and-cover position and shaking so hard his spikes rattled. "Human girl no-no-not let others hurt Rumble…?" Her reaction was spectacular as well, in that none of them had thought a human could yell as loudly as she did. _"Don't you dare hurt Rumble!" _No blue fire accompanied that shout, but none had to. Not just Ironhide but _all_ of them stepped backward, Megatron included. Behind her, Rumble had returned to boom box form, and that boom box shook, even though there was no visible agency to cause it to do so. In shaking it bumped against Sarah's leg, drawing her attention away from the others. Turning and stooping momentarily, she turned to face them again, and they could see that she held the boom box sort of cradled in one arm rather than by the handle. "You see what you did? You scared him clean out of his wits. Poor thing…" She glared at Ironhide angrily, even after he put his cannons away.

Optimus broke the resulting silence. "How did you come by him?" Sarah calmed down. "It's the strangest thing… The closest cover I could find was an electronics store. I thought Barricade wouldn't blow his cover to chase me, but he did. He cornered me against a counter, and this boom box was sitting atop that counter. In trying to find an exit I accidentally yanked its cord, causing it to fall down, bounce off my head and then land in my lap. Barricade reached out to grab me and I… I panicked. I can remember I was wishing with all my heart that someone would help me when I felt this… this sort of _surge_ inside me and… Next thing I knew, the boom box transformed and attacked Barricade. I'm not too sure what happened to cause this or how, but I…" Shock took hold as she looked up at the Autobot leader. "I think I made him become alive!"

-------------------------------------------------------------

Look out world, here comes Rumble!

Rumble: "SKY BLUE SHINY STARDUST PENCIL BRICK!"

...Yup, he's just like his 'brother'.

RIRFIB!!!


	14. How was he supposed to know?

-1Off to the side, Megatron visibly winced upon hearing her say that. She truly _did_ possess all the power of the All Spark. Her ability to create life from unintelligent machines would only make the Decepticons want her more. Things had just become a lot more difficult, for all of them. Somebody had to state the obvious, so he did just that. "We can't stay here. Barricade _never_ works alone, and he doesn't give up easily either. I'm willing to bet he tracked Sarah here, meaning we have to leave… _now!_" They all looked at each other as Jazz voiced the next obvious question. "…Who does she ride with?" In response to this, Megatron immediately held his hands up and backed away. "I'm out of the question. I have to be. Even in jet mode, I'm very recognizable! Any hope for stealthy travel would be out of the question if _I_ were to carry her." Sarah, for her part, saw the logic in his statement and said nothing in protest. The question hung in the air between all five of the Autobots, Optimus included, as she looked between them, uncertain. She didn't really trust any of them, not after the welcome she'd seen Megatron get.

Sirens sounded in the distance. "He's coming! Forget the indecision; we have to leave _now!_" The lot of them transformed and Sarah found herself forgetting her uncertainty, running to the closest one and climbing in, finding herself riding shotgun in Optimus, her boom box held against her chest in a death grip she was sure Rumble didn't appreciate in the slightest. Megatron took to the sky as the rest peeled out like racecars leaving the starting line, easily hitting speeds that would have made said racecars jealous.

Ever mindful of his self-imposed duty to ensure the safety of the human under his protection, Optimus gently draped a seatbelt over his passenger, noting how she flinched. There was really nothing she could do at that point other than hang on, and it wasn't as though he had the time to speak any words of comfort. The lot of them were busy relaying information back and forth between them over a secure communications link. Traffic conditions up ahead on the highway they were driving down, updates on Barricade's speed and current position in relation to them, possible ideas as to how to get away from him or at least get him to stop chasing them… All of these passed between the speeding vehicles. In the heat of the chase it was all too easy to forget about the sixth member of their little group, the voice that had thus far been silent… at least until he spoke up.

"I have an idea," Megatron said. His first action upon taking off had been to ascend into the clouds and take cover there, all the while keeping track of the goings-on below via his long-range scanners and saying absolutely nothing. "I'll bet I can trick him into giving up the chase. After all, am I not the leader of all Decepticons?" His words made sense. After all, how could Barricade know that he had switched sides? Optimus was put in mind of all the times they had worked side by side before the war broke out as his brother spoke again. "I'm going to tap into his communications network now. None of you say _anything_ until I give the all clear signal, or I swear I'll hurt you _repeatedly._" All chatter stopped.

Zeroing in on his cop car target, Megatron immediately went into a steep dive, pulling out about twenty yards directly above Barricade and preparing to put on the performance of his life. "Lord Megatron!" Barricade's voice was filled with utter surprise, but the title almost made the former Decepticon leader gag. "But… I thought you were dead!" Maintaining his position, Megatron tried his hardest to sound like his old self. "You ignorant fool, that was a trick to fool the Autobots. I'm already blowing my cover to talk to _you, _so count yourself lucky that I am allowing you to break off the chase unharmed rather than blasting you into oblivion for costing me my advantage. If you value your miserable little life, you will be gone from here before I change my mind. Now _go!_" Not wasting a millisecond, Barricade made the fastest U-turn ever seen in the history of the automotive world and practically left a cartoon-style dust cloud behind him as he vacated the area in a hurry. Cutting the link, Megatron just had to laugh.


	15. Interlude

-1---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Below him, the Autobots slowed down to normal speed, blending in with the traffic as Megatron watched Barricade leave before returning to the clouds. They could all relax now. It was then that he felt his passenger shivering in her seat. A quick scan didn't really answer any questions. "Sarah, your vital signs are elevated. Are you all right?" His voice startled her, but she recovered quickly and nodded. "I'm… I'm fine." She paused. "I'm just scared, is all. I'm just scared." A sigh escaped her. "If I'd known picking up the Shard would lead to _this, _I'd have just left it there. I used to be a normal, everyday girl, nothing special, but now…" She shrugged with an utterly humorless laugh. "Now I have power no human should ever have access to, I have a whole army of evil aliens out to either kill me or do something else I'm not sure of, I'm on the run with a _second_ group of aliens, I'm apparently the key to universal conquest or the revival of whole worlds, I have no idea where we'll end up, how we'll get there, or even if I'll live to see the end of this craziness, and on top of that I'm talking to a sentient truck." Another laugh escaped her, this one bearing the slightest hint of hysteria. "Look at me, I'm a fugitive. If the Decepticons don't get me, the cops probably will." Her fear was perfectly understandable, but Optimus tried to reassure her anyway. "We won't let that happen, Sarah. Megatron has already sworn to protect you with his life, and the rest of us would do no less." Taking a deep breath, she tried to relax. "…Thank you. I'm sorry I reacted like I did back there. I know you meant well and all… and I know how unlikely or just plain impossible it seems… but…" Shrugging to herself, she sighed. "Megatron's the first person to really care about me. I know I'm just his ticket to making up for stupid mistakes in the past, but it actually matters to him whether I live or die, and that's a lot more than I get from most people. He may not consider me his friend, but I consider him _my_ friend." Saying nothing, Optimus smiled to himself. He had a feeling that Megatron thought more of her than she realized, but he would leave it to his brother to tell her that.

Sarah was relaxing, now that Barricade was no longer on their trail. Her boom box still sat on her lap, but instead of holding it in a death grip she was absentmindedly running her fingers along its smooth curves. A giggle escaped her as the boom box seemed to shiver in her arms. "Oh, you like it when I do that, do you?" It suddenly occurred to Optimus that he couldn't have hoped for a kinder soul to bear the All Spark's power. The girl was acting almost like a mother to her accidental creation, swiftly taming what would surely have otherwise become a Decepticon. She continued to gently trace the boom box's lines, and surprised her alien chauffeur even more by speaking to it. "I'm sorry I manhandled you back there, Rumble. I was scared. But things are all right now, for me and for you too. You can come out whenever you like without having to be scared now, you know. The others know you're not an enemy. You should have heard me yell at them…" She laughed. "I think I scared them as much as they scared you!"

A yawn escaped her and she shifted slightly. Though she tried to hide it, Optimus was aware of this. "You need to rest, Sarah. There's a cot in the back." Thanking him politely, she forsook her seat and headed for the cot, boom box by her side. Placing it next to the cot, she laid down, falling asleep almost immediately. Silence reigned in the cabin for a few moments, until the boom box quietly transformed. Being as quiet as possible, Rumble moved forward to sort of perch in the passenger seat Sarah had vacated mere minutes earlier. "Rumble thank you fo-fo-for take care of human girl, Mister Truck." The squeaky voice reminded Optimus so much of the former boom box's blue Decepticon twin, childish attitude included. "You're welcome… Rumble." A happy little squeak was the only answer he got as Rumble hopped right back out of the seat he'd just gotten up on mere moments before and returned to his previous position. "Rumble guard human girl now." Sending out a signal to the others to tell them to keep their chatter at a low volume so as not to disturb his sleeping passenger and her spindly little guardian, Optimus shifted his focus to the road ahead and tried to figure out where to go next.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Frenzy is bonkers, Rumble is cute… AND bonkers.


	16. Eat your heart out, Noah

-1Holy cow, 50 reviews… insert bug-eyed amazement here

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A discussion between all six of them on the travel capabilities of a typical Decepticon led them to decide to head for the mountains. They would find a narrow valley and set up camp there, since a narrow valley would make it hard for a flying Decepticon to maneuver and the surrounding mountain peaks would make it nearly impossible for an earthbound Decepticon to get anywhere near, much less threaten them. They had actually been planning this for a while, since they needed a home base, or at least someplace where they wouldn't have to worry about being discovered, and the discovery of Sarah only made it a bigger concern. The other Decepticons would surely return, to begin the war anew, and none of them wanted any humans to get involved, much less caught in the crossfire. Much as it pained the lot of them, Sarah was an exception to that rule. She had to be, since she herself was going to be the focus of the new war.

Their quest took them clean out of California and they headed due north, eventually ending up in the state of Washington. They knew from internet research that deep in the heart of that state there were great wide swaths of untouched forests, and as such it would be perfect for their needs. And so, in a nameless valley known only to a select few, they began to set up their new headquarters. Digging into a sheer cliff face, they tunneled out passageways and storage rooms and all else they could possibly need. It seemed odd to Sarah, but they had all the materials to make the interior for a perfectly respectable Autobot-sized building. Whatever they had done before she came into the picture, it had sure earned them friends in some pretty high places. It took a lot less time to finish than she would have thought, but that was to be expected since they were all very strong and she was the only one who needed to sleep. Even though she was no more than a mere human, they still found her help invaluable when it came time to rig up a main computer system. Her powers were still growing, they found, as she shaped metal with ease and sculpted energy into matter to make the base's computer. Piece by piece it took shape before her as she willed it, programs crafted with a level of care and precision far beyond that of a human as the All Spark guided her hand.

Soon it was done, and she stood outside the new base alongside the others, admiring their handiwork. "Wow," she said. "It took Noah and his three sons to build the Ark, and we've made this." She looked at the mountain they'd dug it out of. "And it's even got a mountain for a resting place. How fitting. Now all we need is a bunch of animals and we're set." A sigh heralded a short pause. "I wonder if this was how Noah felt. Huh, us against the world." A short mental shuffle through internet information filled Optimus in on what she was referring to, and it seemed to fit. The last hope of his people's survival cast adrift in a sea of stars, coming to rest on this planet, in this place… "Then that is what we will call it," he eventually decided. "The Ark."

Things were very quiet as the lot of them settled into their new home. It wasn't perfect; no, for some it was far from it. Bumblebee lamented the lack of roads suitable for racing and Ironhide wanted some action. Jazz, for his part, was perfectly happy to just sit and blare loud music for all to hear. Ratchet was happy as long as no one got hurt. There were plenty of places for Rumble to hide and scare the absolute heck out of whoever he could catch, so he was happy too. Sarah was happy to just sit back and relax for a while, especially after all the craziness she had gone through upon discovering her power. Things were mostly perfect for her. She was beginning to trust the Autobots, and to understand why they had reacted to her choice of friends the way they had.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Things are pretty quiet right now, but they won't stay that way for long…


	17. Come fly with me

-1Bear with me, this sort of thing isn't something I'm very good at writing.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sarah sat outside, just lying in the sun and staring at the sky. Another quiet day. Perhaps the Decepticons weren't interested anymore, or perhaps they just couldn't find them. The sound of heavy footsteps approaching drew her attention and she turned to behold none other than Megatron walking up to her. "Hello there," she called out to him. He sat down beside her, which would have been an odd sight to any onlooker but seemed perfectly normal to the both of them. "My brother said I should scout the surrounding area from the air, seeing as I'm the only one who can do that. I was about to go do just that, but then I saw you sitting there looking bored. So I was wondering…" He then proceeded to, of all things, get nervous. "Would you be willing to… I mean, would you _like_ to, ah, fly with me?" The memories bestowed upon her by the All Spark let her know just how utterly ridiculous the situation was. The mighty Megatron, the bloodthirsty, utterly fearless leader of the Decepticons, was acting like a smitten teenager talking to his love interest. It was funny, but she knew better than to laugh. Instead, she smiled up at him and agreed.

Mere moments later she was seated in his cockpit and the two soared high above the land together. Lively banter filled the air as they talked and laughed together like the friends they were. Megatron had to admit that Sarah had him feeling something he hadn't felt for a long time. She seemed to genuinely care about him. It had been ages since anyone else had honestly cared about him. His followers and enemies had feared him, hated him, respected him, wanted him dead… but they had never actually cared about him. And now the living incarnation of what drove him to make war upon his own kin had forgiven him; no, had _more_ than forgiven him… This was new, this was unexpected and deep down he wasn't really sure he deserved it, but this feeling… Knowing that she cared…

Lost in his thoughts as he was, she was the first one to notice what was coming up in the distance. "Hey, a military air base." He could hear the smile in her voice as she peered down at it. "Wow, look at those airplanes down there… From what I've heard, that particular model is called an A-10 Warthog. Nasty-looking suckers, aren't they?" A chuckle escaped her. "Well, it's only because they are. Meanest jets in all the world, those. Rulers of the sky, number-one guaranteed to dominate." This gave him pause. "Meanest jets on this planet, huh?" An idea came to him. Had he been in his normal form he would have been grinning wickedly. "Hang on for a few seconds, Sarah. I'm going to do something that may seem a little bit strange to you." He was cruising at a high altitude, beyond the reach of human radar, but that didn't diminish the intensity of the scanning beams he sent down as they played upon one particular plane. "If this world is going to be my home, I may as well look the part." Sarah gasped as metal flexed and flowed around her, reshaping itself as a picture-perfect replica of the plane on the ground, save for the fact that the color stayed the same. That bright silvery coloration remained, and she imagined that Megatron probably resembled an aircraft sculpted of solid chrome.

His scanners detected the energy signature of weapons fire… coming from the direction of the Ark. "There's trouble," he alerted Sarah. "You're already strapped in, and that's good, so just hang on tight because I'm heading back at top speed." Wasting no more time, he banked sharply, purple fire emanating from his jets, betraying his alien origin despite his now decidedly manmade-looking form, and without a word he shot off into the distance.

Starscream cackled as he and his airborne cohorts circled above the newly discovered Autobot base. He was glad he'd talked Ramjet, Dirge and Thrust into coming with him. Now that Megatron was gone _he_ was the leader, just as he always should have been. "The girl, Autobots…" He called down to them where they were pinned down just inside the base's entrance. "We know what she is, and we know you have her. Hand her over and perhaps we'll spare you for now!" It wasn't much of a surprise to him when Prime told him _exactly_ where he could stick his offer. However, what came next _was_ a surprise.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guess what comes next!


	18. Has no one told you she's not breathing?

-1For those of you who guessed 'whoopass', you're partly right.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"_I already have her, _Starscream." Seeing Starscream do a double take at that voice drew a laugh from the Autobots, combat situation or not. _"_…_Megatron?" _The jet heading his way didn't even have to answer. He would have recognized that brutally efficient flight pattern anywhere. "You're supposed to be dead!" All the Decepticons stared as Megatron cruised in closer. "_You're an idiot, _Starscream. Did you really think I'd die that easily? If any of you had thought to check, you'd have found that I was alive and kicking this whole time, sustained by the All Spark's power! You've failed me for the last time and I'm about to make the lot of you regret it…" Arming all weapons, he locked on to the thoroughly shocked Starscream. _"Because I've switched sides!" _Pivoting in midair with deadly grace, he let him have it with everything his new form had and a few things it didn't, sending the other Decepticon to make a himself-shaped crater in the mountainside above the Ark. All three of Starscream's friends screamed in the manner of schoolgirls encountering a large spider, then promptly turned and set a new speed record as they cleared the area. Trailing thick smoke and scathing expletives behind him, Starscream himself soon joined them.

Even Megatron himself was laughing as he powered down his weapons and landed in front of the Ark. Sarah giggled as she climbed out of the cockpit, then lost whatever composure she had and started laughing her head off. "Did you see the look on his face? Had he been a human, I think he would have wet his pants!" Transforming, Megatron just couldn't stop laughing. "I knew those three were cowards, but that was ridiculous!" Even the normally stoic Ironhide was laughing himself absolutely sick. It was a moment for the history books. For the first time in their lives, they'd witnessed a _humorous_ Decepticon attack.

No matter how it had ended, the attack meant that the Decepticons knew where they were. "We need a defense system," Megatron eventually suggested. That would take care of their lack of available manpower. Sarah agreed to this, even despite how the work drained her, and she wasted no time in beginning her self-appointed task.

Deactivating her blowtorch, Sarah pulled back from the panel she'd been welding. Pushing her mask up, she brushed a strand of grimy brown hair out of her eyes. She'd been at this all day, creating components and piecing them together. Thus far she'd made two laser cannon turrets to be mounted on the Ark's exterior, and a third was well on its way to completion. She really wanted a shower, or some food, but she decided that she would settle for a quick on-the-spot nap. Removing her mask and placing it on top of the deactivated blowtorch, thereby insuring that there would be no way she could lose it, she turned away from where she was working and ambled over to her pile of tools. None of them would be of any use now, but one particular item off to the side… A sleeping bag. Ah, that was what she wanted. Picking it up, she immediately unrolled it on the floor and was out like a light the moment her body touched the ground.

Transforming in midair as he usually did, Megatron landed in the dust with feline grace. Another patrol over and done with, and no Decepticons in sight. Listening in on radio chatter from the military base he'd gotten his jet form from, he'd learned that he was considered a ghost plane. That had to be why none of them had tried to pursue him yet. Chasing spirits wasn't something to waste fuel or manpower on. The doors slid open before him as they always did, granting him entry into what could only be described as a commons area. This was where everybody gathered to organize patrols and the like, but at that moment it was empty. At least, that was how it seemed at first, before he caught sight of the half-assembled laser cannon tucked away in the far corner so as to be out of the way, the two completed laser cannons off to the side, and the small human form curled up on the floor. He grinned. Sarah. He'd known Decepticons with less determination than she displayed. It amazed him; the sight of such a small, fragile organic being displaying such courage in the face of beings so much larger and stronger… Walking closer, he gazed down at her silent form… and realized something that made him feel as though his spark had fizzled out in his chest.

_At some point during her nap, Sarah had stopped breathing._

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll bet none of you expected THAT…


	19. Can you blame him?

-1Chapter 19: Can you blame him?

_"Ratchet!" _That shout was loud enough to be heard throughout the Ark in its entirety, and the tone of complete and utter panic brought even Optimus running, since the words 'panic' and 'Megatron' didn't even seem to belong in the same sentence. Anyone unfortunate enough to be in the hallway between the commons area and the repair bay practically got trampled as the thoroughly freaked-out Decepticon, seemingly dead human in hand, sprinted as if his very life depended on it. He barely noticed any of that. The only thing on his mind was how utterly silent and still Sarah was, no breath, no life, _nothing_… 

"Ratchet, you've got to help her," he said in a voice filled with stark terror. The words came tumbling out in a swift, jumbled rush, gaining in pitch with each word. "I don't know what happened because I just came in from patrol and I found her like this and she's not breathing or responding to anything and I didn't know what to do so I brought her here thinking maybe you could do something…" Whatever composure he'd been able to keep was swiftly disappearing even as Jazz, Bumblebee, Ironhide and Optimus himself entered the area, so the Autobot leader did the only thing he could think of to snap him out of it… He hit his brother. In the face. The sharp clang of metal striking metal filled the smallish room and drew a wince from everyone present save Ratchet, Optimus and the Decepticon in question. Taken completely by surprise, Megatron fell down to land on his rear, one hand held against the side of his face where Optimus had slapped him, eyes wide with shock. Out of all the things his brother could have done at that point, this had been by far the least expected. All was quiet for a moment before he slowly stood up, much calmer now. "Thanks, Optimus… I guess I needed that." Off to the side, Ratchet quietly busied himself with a comprehensive scan of his newest patient as Megatron stood back up. "…I don't know what I'll do if she's gone. She's our only hope of restoring our world and you know it… and it was _my_ job to protect her, to keep her safe. Where did I go wrong? Did I miss something? Was there anything I could have done to prevent this?" Finishing up his scan, Ratchet interrupted him. "She's in stasis lock. All her internal organs have become mechanical in nature, and that change is currently taking place in her brain, hence the need for stasis lock. Her musculature and neural pathways appear to be adapting themselves for extra-atmospheric travel. The All Spark seems to be preparing her body for the journey home. It's my opinion that she'll wake up good as new once her brain is through the conversion process." Almost as if cued by that statement, Sarah abruptly sat up. "Hey, what the… How did I get here?" There was a second loud clang as Megatron found himself back on the floor again. "Oh, I'm so relieved."

After a great deal of explaining, Sarah was allowed to go on her way. It unnerved her slightly to learn that she was becoming something other than human, but as long as she stayed herself that didn't mean much to her. After all, with the powers she had been given, wasn't she already something other than human? Gifted with memories of alien life more ancient than the Earth itself, standing astride the boundary between life and death, she had lost all normality the moment she first touched the Shard. Now she lived among giant mechanical alien beings, she was taking part in a war, someday she would travel to the world she had previously seen only in dreams to bring life to a land ravaged by death… This was her life. She was still Sarah Hornsby; she could still look in the mirror and see the same tanned skin, the same blue eyes… And yet she was now so much more than Sarah Hornsby, more than human, more, perhaps, than mortal… 

------------------------------------------------------------- 

Given what almost appeared to happen, I think he had every right to panic. The prospect of losing a friend can do that.

There's gonna be some serious action coming up! 


	20. DAT'Z BAD!

-1Here's the action I promised.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The alarm screeched, red lights flashing and flaring, making her drop the half-constructed microchip she had been forming. Looking up, she was barely aware than she had bared her teeth in a snarl. "They're back!" She could barely recognize her own voice in that growled statement. Standing up, she headed for the main entrance just like she was sure everybody else was doing. She knew her place on the battlefield: she was to stay with Ratchet and use her skills to help anyone who got injured. The first thing she noticed upon exiting the Ark was that everyone was already out. She was the last. Even Rumble was taking part, constantly darting around the battlefield and firing a small laser cannon at anything that moved and wasn't an Autobot, all the while chattering complete gibberish at the top of his metaphorical lungs. The others were already under cover. A quick look up showed her where Megatron was and what they were dealing with. Starscream was back, along with his three friends, but two more had joined them and they all carried powerful weapons. Megatron was once again letting them have it, but this time they were ready for him. Outnumbered and outgunned, the earthbound Autobots unable to do anything save watch and attempt futile shots, Megatron fought valiantly but found himself overwhelmed…

He barely had time to register that he had transformed out of his jet mode before he slammed face first into the mountainside, not too far from where Starscream had done the same thing. The world went black for a few seconds only to return dimmer than before. Six enemies, and him going at it pretty much solo… The odds were heavily stacked against him, with a very real possibility of him not walking away from this, but none of that so much as crossed his mind. At that point, all he knew was that he had to get up and continue the fight. It hurt to move, but the pain helped clear his mind a bit. His vision blurred slightly as he glared up at them. So Starscream had gotten Backfire and Downburst in on things, as well as Dirge, Ramjet and Thrust. Whip at the ready, he lashed out at the closest one, rather effectively disarming Ramjet since the whip coiled around his gun and yanked it clean out of his hands. Given a moment, he surveyed the battlefield and immediately decided that Fate couldn't have possibly dealt him a worse hand if it tried. There was no cover in sight and the slippery slope consisted of small rocks that shifted beneath every footstep, leading to a sheer cliff, below which the Ark and the Autobots waited. He cursed Starscream's advantage; why were he and his cohorts able to fly in their normal form when Megatron couldn't? They had the sky, they had come prepared this time, he had no cover, his allies couldn't possibly reach the mountaintop fast enough…

He didn't even see it coming. Dazed as he was, he hadn't noticed Dirge and Backfire moving in from behind. Two laser blasts, aimed and fired in unison, struck him square in the back, sending him to the ground with a harsh cry of pain. Face down on the rocky ground, he tried to recover at least a little, to struggle to his feet, but the world was spinning so badly that all he could do was get on hands and knees. There was a flicker at the edge of his vision, coming from the direction of the cliff. Turning slightly to look, he saw little tendrils of blue lightning bouncing uselessly off the rocks. _Sarah, _he realized. She was down there too, throwing every ounce of power in her still mostly human body into trying to help him even though she was out of range… A series of repeated thumps alerted him to the fact that the Decepticons were landing around him. _"Oh, how I've longed to do this!" _It was then that Megatron knew he was pretty much screwed; not from the weakness that filled him, not from the darkness that hovered at the edge of his vision, but from the way Starscream strolled over and kicked him in the side.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taking on six heavily armed opponents by yourself is virtually impossible for ANYBODY. Megatron included.


	21. Becoming

-1I'm leaving a portion of the story out because it's not exactly gonna fit under a G rating. I know you'll figure out what happened, though.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Pebbles rained down the cliff face upon the Autobots who stood as one and tried to think of what to do. "Go up the cliff?" That was shot down. "No, the rock's not strong enough to hold us." Another idea was put forth. "Go around?" That was shot down as well. "We wouldn't get there in time." Frustration took hold. _"Well, there has to be something!" _Not a one of them was against trying to save Megatron if they could. Former enemy or not, he had earned his place among them and become a comrade, no, a friend. Ratchet was getting ready for the direst of emergencies and praying with all his might to whatever god was listening that it would be damage he would see; just damage and not death. His hope was already dying, and it faded more and more with each savage grunt and pained cry.

Sarah, for her part, was half past hysterical as she tried again and again to use her power, to take control even despite the fact that she was out of range. The only thoughts running through her mind was that he was up there, he was _alone_ up there, outnumbered and possibly incapacitated, judging from Starscream's words moments before… This whole war was _her_ fault; she was supposed to have all this power, the power to give life and rejuvenate worlds, but what good was it doing her now? She was supposed to have power over life and death, so why was she powerless to save the life that mattered most to her? There _had_ to be a way to fight, a facet to her power that she hadn't considered yet…

Anger swelled inside her, hatred of those Decepticons; oh, how she longed to be able to fly up there and make them pay for everything! She'd never been this angry before in all her life. In her experience rage burned as a searing flame, but never before had it burned quite like this! Before it had only burned in her chest, but now it surged throughout her whole body. Fire was rushing through her, saturating every fiber of her being, filling her, energizing her, empowering her, _becoming_ her… and that fire was blue.

A high, piercing scream drew Optimus's attention away from the cliff where he knew his brother now struggled to survive and made him focus on the torrent of wicked blue fire erupting from Sarah where she stood. The scream had come from her; not a cry of pain but a wordless expression of pure black rage with an undertone of sheer wild elation. All around him the other Autobots were staring as well, wondering if the All Spark's power had somehow turned on its bearer. The fire raged stronger, rising higher, burning brighter, until they could see nothing save a pillar of roiling, churning blue…

The All Spark's energy faded away, but what stood there… wasn't Sarah. Huddled on its knees, panting and badly shaken, was a being that looked like a slightly smaller version of Megatron; that same spiky armor, those spidery claws… Rather than being silver, it was a shade of gray so dark as to be almost black, glittering in the light as the blue died away. The black was far from perfect, as delicate traceries of that same bright blue trimmed every spike and every curve. The eyes were different, the same color as the highlights that marked its body; blue lightning instead of crimson fire. As they watched, a few seconds elongating into an eternity, the dark being stood, revealing vaguely feminine curves. It was then that they knew. This was Sarah, and she had yet to realize what she had become, as if her mind was on autopilot, some unknown force guiding her. A small rain of pebbles drew her attention upward and she abruptly looked up, newly formed fangs bared in a look of hate-filled fury that reminded Optimus of how his brother had been during the war. Crouching down, she leapt straight up with a sharp, brutal grace she had never shown in her human form… and instantly pulled off her first transformation, becoming a darker version of that infamous alien jet and rocketing straight upward on a pillar of purple fire.

The scream wasn't lost on the combatants above. Ramjet and Dirge were working together to both help support Megatron and to restrain him so he couldn't attack the evilly smirking Starscream who stood before him, taunting him in his moment of weakness. Starscream, for his part, was enjoying each and every millisecond of what was going on. He'd already more than humiliated Megatron, already more than hurt him… He'd made sure that his former superior had paid dearly for denying him his desires and being in his way, but still that wasn't nearly enough for him. He wanted to hurt him more, and hearing that scream made him realize how he could do that… "Do you hear that? The girl screams for you." His smirk only grew as he saw his former leader's eyes narrow at the mention of the All Spark girl. Evidently he'd touched a nerve. "She's next, you know. After I'm done with _you, _I'll see if she can scream any louder!" Snarling wordlessly, Megatron tried to lunge for Starscream's throat, practically dragging both Dirge and Ramjet along with him. _"You leave her out of this!" _The two Decepticons just barely managed to hold him back as he fought with all his remaining strength to break free and strangle his former second in command. Taking a step back at his former commander's sudden burst of strength, Starscream knew he had gotten to him, and this pleased him greatly. "As a matter of fact, I'm not sure who to kill first. You… or her."

-------------------------------------------------------------

Now she can transform too, it seems. It must be a self-defense adaptation caused by the All Spark.


	22. Starscream earned it

-1You're gonna love this.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"_You'll do neither, Starscream!" _The sky erupted in a mighty roar as a jet as black as coal, that unmistakable jet, ripped past the cliff's edge to spiral skyward, trailing that brilliant purple fire. Banking sharply, it came around and transformed in midair to land gracefully before them, backlit by the late afternoon sun and thrown into shadow, save for the blue traceries that covered it, as they shone with their own light, and those eyes, those electric blue eyes. It slowly stood up, revealing itself as female. "Not while _I'm_ around."

By that point all four were staring and Starscream momentarily regretted sending the other three home before taking control of the situation. "_Don't panic, _you fools! She's unarmed!" The new arrival grinned at him, taking up a wide-legged battle-ready stance. "Am I?" Raising her arms and holding them out before her, palm to palm, her forearms morphed and melded together into an enormous cannon, which she immediately aimed and fired at Starscream, sending him flying halfway across the mountain. Ramjet and Dirge released their hold on Megatron upon seeing their commander go flying. Badly beaten and too weak to stand, the former Decepticon leader could do nothing save collapse. Managing to turn his head enough to see the newcomer who had blasted Starscream, his dazed mind tried to make sense of what was happening. "An… an angel?"

The two Decepticons drew their weapons and took aim at her. Even if she shot one of them, the other would surely shoot her. Her arms reverted and she lowered them. The battle had become a standoff. Growling angrily, weapon at the ready, Starscream was abruptly back in the picture. "_Surrender, female! _You're outnumbered and you can't take all three of us!" She didn't so much as flinch at the sight of such big guns aimed her way. Instead, she stood quietly, concentrating, as her blue highlights came to sudden electric life and leapt outward, a tendril snaking out for each of them. Awed, elated understanding thrilled through every fiber of Megatron's being in that moment, as she spoke three words, three little words that told him _exactly_ who this was… _"Stand down weapons."_

Surprised, irate exclamations sprang forth from all three of the Decepticons as their weapons spontaneously deactivated themselves. After a few seconds of trying to get them to reactivate, they looked to her again, this time in shock. "Yes, _I_ did that," she eventually said. Starscream was starting to panic. He excelled at subterfuge and backstabbing, but in face to face combat he was as cowardly as they came. But no, he couldn't let that happen. He was the leader now, and as such he had to have no fear. "We still outnumber her," he called to his comrades. "Come on… we're Decepticon warriors! _We can take her!_" She did nothing, letting them charge at her for a long moment… And then she concentrated again, her blue highlights once again springing to life, this time touching the Decepticons themselves. She spoke only one single word. _"Stop." _All three found themselves frozen in mid-step, utterly paralyzed. Grinning again, she crossed her arms and struck up a pose that would be considered downright sassy on any planet. "Did you really think that was all I could do? Take control of your guns?" Chuckling, she ambled over to Starscream and tauntingly caressed his cheek as a lover would, smile broadening at the stark hatred in his eyes. "You thought wrong. It doesn't stop there; oh no indeed." Sashaying around behind him, she lightly drew one claw across his throat, further highlighting to him how helpless he was. "I can do that to any machine. Anything mechanical is in my power, up to and including _you._" She giggled, smiling sweetly as if she had merely divulged an embarrassing secret rather than incapacitating a trio of Decepticons. "You're my _puppet, _is what you are. My little puppet." A moment later she had him in her arms and was _waltzing_ with him. "I don't suppose I have to enlighten you on all the _fun_ I could have with you in my grasp like this…" Embarrassing as it was, Starscream found he could do nothing save what she wished him to, and he swore on the spot that _he_ would be the one to kill her. Off to the side he could hear the weak laughter of his former superior officer. Even now, after being soundly defeated and utterly humiliated in so many ways, Megatron still laughed at him. "…But I'm not that kind of girl." Her voice was low and sultry now and they were face to face, her looking like she was about to kiss him, him wearing an expression that would have annihilated the universe several times over if looks could kill. "I think I'll just send you boys home. …Minus your guns, of course. _Drop your weapons._" The last three words were spoken in that unmistakable tone of command, and without hesitation all three obeyed. Another cute yet fiendish giggle escaped her and she patted Starscream on the head as if he were a dog who had just done a trick for her. "Good boy!" By this point, Megatron was laughing _hysterically. _Watching her completely humiliate Starscream in front of his subordinates… Oh, this was just too rich, especially after what he had done to him! "I'm going to send you three home now, little puppet. Maybe we'll play again some other day. _Return to base._" That commanding voice came again, and all three took off without a word, flying away on an arrow-straight course that would most likely take them straight back to wherever their headquarters was located.

Not bothering to watch them leave, she turned and looked at the guns they dropped. Walking to the edge of the cliff and peering over the edge, she called down to the waiting Autobots. _"Hey everyone! A gift, courtesy of Starscream!" _She then kicked the guns off the cliff and the Autobots caught them. The lot of them, Optimus included, stared up at her and wondered what the heck had happened up there. She could see the question in their eyes, but she didn't bother to reply. The only answer they got was the high, almost delicate sound of her delight-filled laughter echoing from the mountaintop.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He SOOO deserved that!


	23. Aftermath

-1Here's the next chapter. The reason I was able to put things up so fast was that I'd already written most of it out. But we're getting to the end of what I'd already written. So my updates may start to come less frequently.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 23: Aftermath

Paying them no more mind, all humor and mischief immediately forgotten in favor of intense concern, she dashed over to where Megatron lay and knelt beside him, gently helping him to move onto his back. "…Sarah?" Smiling reassuringly, her only response was a silent nod. "…Sarah, how did you…" She cut him off. "Don't try to talk right now. You're hurt very badly. I'll get you to Ratchet just as fast as I can, all right?" Through all of this she had yet to notice how she had changed, so it only seemed a little odd to her that she was able to help him to stand up. It was then that she revealed that she wasn't wholly like Megatron. Rather than take the long route down the mountain, she stepped off the cliff and revealed that her normal form was flight-capable, just like Starscream.

Moments later the two of them alit on the dusty ground as lightly as a falling leaf. All the same, Sarah staggered, almost falling to her knees before quickly recovering and marching resolutely to where Ratchet stood, helping Megatron to lie down comfortably before backing off and walking over to the others. It was only then that she realized something was different. "Hey Optimus… Is it just me or did you guys all shrink?" The response he gave was the only one he could think of. "Sarah… Look at yourself." Doing so, she gasped in shock when she caught sight of her hands. Stepping backward, she looked herself over with increasing panic. "I… How did I… _What_ did I…" Optimus had a theory, and he voiced it. "The All Spark, Sarah. I don't know how, but… You were so desperate to get up there and help Megatron that you unconsciously called forth the power of the All Spark… upon yourself." Badly shaken, she said nothing as she quietly walked over to the Ark's entrance. Rumble came up to her as she sat down by the door, thoroughly confused. "Human girl no-no-_not_ human girl?" She sighed. "I don't get it either, Rumble."

Megatron was barely conscious as he lay on the ground and submitted to Ratchet's scans. The beating he'd taken showed up clear as day, but what else he saw… Several coolant lines had ruptured, and the surrounding area was badly damaged. And their _location_… His eyes went wide. "Megatron…" This was unprecedented brutality, beyond anything the Decepticons had shown for the longest time. _"Megatron, did Starscream_…_" _There was a soft groan as hazy crimson eyes met his. "…Ratchet…" The sheer pain in those soft, whispered syllables answered his unspoken question. He was about to get up, to go tell Optimus what those despicable excuses for mechanisms had done to his brother, when he felt a feather-light touch on his arm. Looking down, he saw that Megatron held his wrist in a feeble grip. "…Ratchet… Don't… tell…" Immediately settling back down, he decided that he would still tell Optimus, but not right away, and not in the open. He'd do it secretly. For now, he had a job to do. He couldn't do anything about what the other Decepticons had put Megatron through, but he _could_ do something about the damage they had left behind. That was what he did best, after all.

Even though the battle was over, Sarah was still practically beside herself with worry. She still wasn't sure what she had done, but had she done it in time? All she could do was watch Ratchet as he worked, since she had a feeling that she currently couldn't access any of her other powers. Somehow, some way, she just knew. "Say you'll be all right," she murmured as she stared at Megatron's unmoving form. She didn't know what she would do if he didn't make it out of this one. It was an illogical thought; the memories given her by the All Spark showed her that he'd been through similar situations in the past, but she couldn't shake her worries no matter what she tried. Rumble could sense her agitation, and he knew why, since he could tell where she was looking. "Silver one hurt?" She nodded. "He is. Oh, I hope he'll be all right…" He surprised her by climbing up to sit on her shoulder like a parrot and keep her company that way. "Rumble ho-ho-hope so too."

It seemed like forever and a half before Ratchet leaned back and looked to her. He didn't have to say anything. The look of satisfaction on his face said it all. Megatron was going to be all right. She could feel the tension and worry draining from her body as she sighed in relief. But it wasn't just the tension and worry that were leaving her in that moment. Her strength was following it out, and consciousness wasn't too far behind…

Rumble found himself having to hop down from his perch as she rapidly shrank, returning to her much smaller human form even as she slumped to the ground, out cold. She lay there in the dust, stretched out as if she were sleeping, but he knew she wasn't. "Human girl?" Not sure what to do, he reached out and poked her arm. "Wa-wa-wake up…" No response came. Rumble had always been high-strung, but now he outright panicked. Shaking, he looked around at the Autobots who were in the process of regrouping, and picked out the one he wanted, the one he thought could help. _"Fixer!" _Squealing, he ran over to Ratchet and practically jumped on him. "Human girl no-no-not wake up!"

A glance down at where Megatron lay told him that the Decepticon wouldn't so much as twitch for the next few hours. He could afford to leave for a moment. Quickly standing, the larger Autobot walked over to where Sarah lay, Rumble skittering at his heels. A quick scan told him all he needed to know, and he summarily passed the information on. "She's all right. She just drained all her energy… I think it was from that transformation. She'll be just fine." Rumble smiled. "Rumble thank you for help…" Ratchet paused. "Oh, and one more thing… Could you ask Bumblebee to get her to the repair bay? Optimus, Ironhide and I have to do the same for Megatron." He barely managed to finish his sentence before Rumble was off and running, looking for Bumblebee as he had been asked.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Yay for Rumble being cute! And poor Megatron. I wonder what happened to him…? Well, what occurred came between Chapter 20 and Chapter 21, and would have bumped this up to an M rating had I put it up here. Just know THIS... Starscream is EVIL and would do ANYTHING to utterly humiliate his prey.


	24. Between the two of us

-1And now for a bit of fluff…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sarah was the first of the two to awaken, mere hours later. That wasn't a surprise, since the more she used her powers, the less they drained her, as if each use was helping her body to get used to handling such energies. Still, Ratchet kept her in the repair bay for observation after the spectacular transformation she'd pulled. Everyone had expected her to object to that since she _hated_ that kind of attention, and it unnerved the lot of them when she didn't. No, she didn't so much as say a word. All she did was sit there quietly, out of the way, badly shaken and deep in thought about what she had done. She saw Ratchet call Optimus off to the side and whisper something to him, some secret that had to relate to Megatron somehow since the Autobot leader immediately glanced at his silent form in absolute shock before then proceeding to look angrier than she'd ever seen him.

She'd never really thought about what it would mean to lose her humanity, she now realized. The form she'd taken… It had felt so natural, so _right, _that she had fought off three Decepticons and rescued a friend before she even realized something had changed. Even now, some part of her wanted to go back to that form, as if that was what she was truly meant to be. Was that the All Spark inside her having its say in things? And why didn't she feel more fear? Ratchet had said her brain had become mechanical… Had the process altered her thoughts and feelings? Were these thoughts hers? Or was the All Spark twisting her mind to suit its purposes? So much had changed, her life, her world, herself…

Even Ratchet couldn't tell whether Megatron was sleeping or unconscious. This worried him a bit, but it made sense given what he had gone through. So there he lay, silent and motionless, dead to the world, the only sign that he still lived the soft hum of his inner workings, much like a human heartbeat. In all likelihood he would awaken in time. It didn't escape Ratchet's notice how Sarah watched him where he lay. Her gaze never wavered, not for a moment. The two were very close friends and everybody knew it, but Ratchet had a feeling that there was more to it than that. Neither of them were aware of it, but what they had between them seemed to be changing, deepening, _evolving_…

_White_… _White everywhere. A haze enveloping him, hiding everything so he couldn't tell where he was or what was going on_… _A voice echoed in the silence, a voice calling his name. _"Megatron…" _He could see her faintly, that small, frail-looking organic form, those bright eyes, that face_… _She seemed to be beckoning to him, asking him to follow her, but he couldn't. His legs didn't seem to want to work and she was receding into the distance, still calling out to him, disappearing into the haze. He had failed to protect her from the other Decepticons and now he was losing her. She'd been the first to trust him, the first to believe in him, and that had meant so much, but now she was leaving, he'd failed her, he'd _lost_ her_… _Grief and despair flooded him, anguish so powerful he thought his spark would be crushed beneath it, as he futilely reached out after her fading form_…

"No… _Sarah_…" Ratchet was surprised to hear the sleeping Decepticon cry out as if in pain, squirming feebly where he lay, caught in dreams… or in nightmares, as the case seemed to be. "Sarah… I… Where are you…? Don't go… I… Sarah… _No_…" It sounded as if he were in pain, either physical or emotional, and the Autobot couldn't help but get the feeling that Megatron was beginning to feel it too; the change taking place between him and Sarah. He also got the feeling that, unconscious or not, he would be comforted greatly by her presence, so he decided to go find her and bring her there.

The first thing he noticed was that she wasn't where she had been sitting for the last few hours. She'd been deep in thought the whole time, so deep as to almost qualify as being in a catatonic state, but now she had disappeared? Maybe she'd gone to see the others, or… "It's all right, Megatron…" And there she was, in the last place he had expected to find her, which was also where he wanted her to go. He saw her clambering over the side of the table where the Decepticon in question lay. "I'm right here beside you, and I'm not going _anywhere._" Pausing a moment, she looked to Ratchet and gave a knowing smile, as if to tell him that she had already known what he would have asked of her had he gotten the chance to. A few moments later she was curled up like a kitten in the hollow between his neck and left shoulder, pressed up against him as if he were warm flesh and not cold metal. His outcries ceased as nightmares gave way to quieter, more peaceful dreams, and she herself seemed calmer as each took comfort in the presence of the other. It looked to Ratchet as if she was starting to feel it too, how things were changing between them.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Megatron claims no responsibility for what goes on in his unconscious mind… and neither do I.


	25. Look what I can do!

-1PM me if you want to know what happened between Chapter 20 and Chapter 21. I'll send you a copy and you'll get the answer to this question: "What happened on the mountaintop above the Ark?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once he had recovered fully, Sarah decided it was time to try to duplicate what had happened to her on the battlefield. It had been a reaction before, a manifestation of the desperate terror she had felt, but if she could learn to do it at will… She grinned. If she could learn to do it at will, she could do more than help Ratchet and watch the others fight. It had really burned her that she couldn't do more. Even Rumble was able to fight. But now… She headed for the commons area and went into the secluded corner where she'd crafted those laser cannons so seemingly long ago. Standing there quietly, she closed her eyes and focused inward. _All right, _she thought to herself. _It can't be much different from shaping metal. _That had been easy once she'd mastered it, since it was merely a matter of focusing on what she had wanted it to become, what she had wanted it to do. Now she directed that focus inward, remembering what her desperation had made of her and pushing to become that again. She had known deep down what she had needed to become during her first transformation. The Autobots were strong, but none of them were capable of flying. Starscream and his kin were able to fly, but they weren't quite as strong. She wanted to be both, but who could she look to as a basis for her new form? There was only one who was the way she knew she needed to be, to her knowledge. Only one had possessed the balance of power and flight she wanted, and that was Megatron himself. No wonder she'd transformed into something very like him. _Give me strength to fight, _she urged the power inside her. _Give me wings to fly. Make of me what I wish to be_… _now! _

The play of brilliant pale blue light on the walls alerted Optimus to the fact that something was up in the commons area. Jogging down the hall, he rounded the corner in time to see the last scraps of blue fire die away from the dark-hued being that had obviously been Sarah mere moments ago, that coal-black almost-twin of Megatron himself… Opening her eyes and looking to him, she smiled. "I did it," she said in delight. "I can change at will."

Her newfound ability to transform would place another fighter on the battlefield when the Decepticons returned, but before that could happen she needed training. A scan by Ratchet confirmed the hypothesis Optimus had come up with. Though her eyes were blue, her new form was not an Autobot. She had taken on Megatron's design, and Megatron was a Decepticon, so that made her a Decepticon as well.

Sarah met his gaze and reality seemed to fracture around them. Time stopped. It was as if neither of them had really _seen_ the other before this moment. Both of them could feel something between them, some kind of connection, a bond… It made sense. Had they not been tied together from the moment she first touched the Shard? She had been his lifeline, keeping him from dying under the sea, giving him the strength to escape and find her, and if they ever won the war she would regenerate the world that was the homeland of the power she now bore… She was a lifeline for a whole planet. Indeed, she was bound to all of them, but all those bonds of trust and friendship were as nothing compared with the bond she shared with Megatron. If there were words for what they had between them, she didn't know them. Friendship had deepened into something more, something she couldn't quite describe or explain, save to say that she knew he felt it too…

The decision was made with little to no discussion, as if it were a foregone conclusion for everyone involved, Sarah included. "Megatron, since she copied _your_ design and you're the only one who really knows what you're truly capable of, the lot of us have come to the agreement that _you_ should be the one to train her." Megatron didn't mind in the slightest, since he had the feeling he'd have ended up doing just that anyway. From what he'd heard, her first transformation and flight had been guided by the All Spark, so he would have to teach her to do both. It had always been a pleasure to fly with her, but now he would be able to fly _alongside_ her… Starscream's actions aside, things couldn't have been better.

The first few days were filled with her practicing transforming and building up her tolerance for doing so. It wouldn't be anything but bad for her to collapse again as she had the first time she'd done it; not on the battlefield, anyway. No, it was better for her to do it here, changing back and forth at a whim. It was a little like having a very young child around as she tested her reflexes and learned what her new form could do. Optimus was put in mind of his youth as he watched her run. Megatron had been playful like that once.

Ironhide headed for the shooting range for some nice relaxing target practice like he usually did, but he was stopped in mid-step by the sound of shots, and the sound of voices. "Ha! Beat that!" A feminine voice laughed in delight. Sarah? Several shots followed, and then a second exclamation. "All too easy, Sarah. Try _this!_" That was Megatron. The two were talking and laughing together as if they were playing a game. Entering, he saw them standing side by side, forearm cannons smoking as they took turns at blasting the targets. "Three in a row, straight through the center! How's _that_ for a trick shot, huh, Megatron?" Ironhide found himself staring at the former Decepticon leader, thrown for a loop by how utterly different he was acting. Sure they'd been a team for months now, but it hadn't really sunk in just how much Megatron had changed. Were it not for the fact that he still looked the same, Ironhide could have easily believed him to be someone else entirely.

He taught her to transform, to use both her cannons, to wield her own whip, and to fly. The latter was their favorite thing to do by far, and all the Autobots couldn't help but want to watch them do just that. It would have made an utterly astounding sight to anyone not in the know… A warplane seemingly sculpted of solid chrome circling overhead, with a coal-black alien aircraft following a little bit behind it. She mastered quickly everything he tried to teach her, the use of her jet form's weapons included, and soon she was as ready for her first real fight as any amount of training could make her.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, so now she can do it at will.She deserves to at least be able to fight, and shouldn't the fact that she's the living incarnation of the very life essence of all Transformers mean she should be able to transform too?


	26. Starscream's Shard

-1First off, I'd like to thank IjuinTekka of for this little twist.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Decepticons obliged the lot of them days later as the same six jets came roaring over the horizon. The laser cannon turrets Sarah had made were shooting up a storm, picking shots with enough accuracy to set the attackers dodging and weaving even before the actual fight began. Looking at each other and nodding with a pair of the most devilish grins ever seen in the universe at large, Megatron and Sarah took off running side by side, almost completely synchronized as they took all their momentum into upward leaps, transformed and raced upward to attack the Decepticons head on. They hadn't really been expecting _two_ jets to come up to meet them, and that gave the duo the upper hand long enough for them to unload on their enemies with everything they had. Dirge didn't even get a chance to fire back before a shot to his afterburners sent him packing in a hurry.

"_Goodbye, _slag-for-brains!" The coal-black aircraft trailed laughter behind it as it banked and sought another target. Megatron busied himself with chasing Thrust and Backfire while Sarah transformed into her normal form, extended her whip and began to let Ramjet have it _repeatedly. _"One! Two! Three! Four!" Downburst tried to take her from behind, but she stopped beating the absolute heck out of Ramjet long enough to blast him straight in the chest and send him flying straight into Megatron's line of fire. "Nice shot," he called over to her. Returning to the task at hand, she lashed out with her whip, letting it coil around Ramjet's arm. "_Come here, _you!" A moment later she'd yanked him close enough to get a good grip on him. Wasting no time, she started slapping him around. Behind her, Megatron caught up to Backfire and blasted him halfway into next week, sending him packing as well. Now all he had to do was do the same to Thrust.

Sarah was about to deliver the grand finisher when a laser blast came from behind her and arced over her shoulder, drawing her attention. The shooter could have easily shot her in the back, but he hadn't. That had been a warning shot; nothing more. Releasing Ramjet, who immediately fled the scene, she turned to behold Starscream. "You _again?_" There was no surprise or fear in her voice, only annoyance, as if the Decepticon were no more than a nuisance to be dealt with rather than an enemy to be fought. "Don't you remember what happened _last_ time?" The look of absolute _hatred_ that took shape on his face when she said that was enough of an answer for her. She smiled. "Do I _have_ to do this again?" She wasted no time, concentrating as her highlights came to life to lick at him… only to start in shock as the pale blue tendril she sent his way broke against him like a wisp of smoke drifting into a wall. _"What in_…_?" _He was smirking as she tried a second time only to fail again. "You're not the only one," he said smugly as their gazes met, a sudden surge of blue lightning pulsing through the fiery red of his eyes… and she knew. "Impossible," she gasped. _"Yours was not the only Shard!" _Shock froze her in place and time seemed to slow down to an agonizing crawl as he raised his gun, took aim at her chest and fired.

Megatron finished dealing with Thrust in time to see Sarah fall from the sky, a smoking, _burning_ hole in her chest… and to see the smoking gun Starscream held. To say that the sight enraged him would be the severest of understatements. Literally out to kill, he didn't bother with weapons. Instead, he hit top speed, banked sharply and _rammed_ Starscream. Nearly thrown from the sky, Starscream took severe damage and fled the scene just as his cohorts did, cackling evilly all the while. "I know fatal shots when I deal them, Megatron. You beat me, but not in time to save _her!_" The other Decepticon's words rattled him so badly that he didn't even bother to pursue. "No! _Sarah!_" Starscream's retreat went unopposed as Megatron pulled into a steep dive, almost sending himself into an uncontrolled freefall in his haste to get to the ground. It was only then that he realized that ramming Starscream had damaged him severely as well, since instead of landing on his feet he just about landed on his face. Having just barely avoided a crash, it took some effort for him to transform, but he managed. Stumbling to his feet, in agony but not noticing it, he struggled toward where Ratchet now had his work cut out for him in trying to repair her.

"Sarah…" She was all that mattered in that moment, and he fought with everything he had to get to her, at least until his legs gave out beneath him. He would have ended up on hands and knees, if not face down on the ground, had someone not caught him. More surprised by the fact that someone had caught him than by his collapsing in the first place, he looked up and met the concerned gaze of his brother. "…Optimus?" He was about to say something in reply when a groan drew everyone's attention, followed by Ratchet calling out to them. "Megatron, I need your help over here!" Trying to pull free of his brother's supporting grasp, he wavered again and nearly fell. Optimus ignored his attempt to push him away and helped him anyway. Soon he was kneeling beside Sarah's fallen form and staring in numb disgust at the hole in her chest. Starscream's shot had nearly cleaved her spark in two. On her other side, Rumble had her shoulder in a death grip embrace and was squealing incoherently, all vestiges of composure long gone. Just then, Ratchet spoke up. "Megatron, you've got to keep her awake. If she loses consciousness she'll revert to human form and I won't be able to help her then. Talk to her, distract her, I don't care what you do, just _keep her awake!_" Giving a silent nod, not trusting himself to speak a reply lest he flip out and lose it completely, he reached out and gently took her hand in his own. Opening her eyes, she looked up at him and gave a weak smile. "Hello there," she whispered, as if they had merely crossed paths in a hallway. He returned her smile reassuringly, trying to project a confidence he didn't feel. "The Shard I found wasn't the only one… Starscream found a second." He cringed mentally at the shock and utter disbelief in her eyes. "Megatron, the All Spark touched him too… He's immune to my power. He's immune to _me._" That explained everything. "I'm sorry, Megatron… I let him get me. I let everybody down…" Latching on to that statement, he shook his head vehemently. "_No you didn't, _Sarah. Who took out Dirge, Downburst and Ramjet, huh?" She went quiet. "…_I_ did," she said as though she had just remembered doing so.

Ratchet was able to stabilize her enough for Ironhide and Jazz to move her to the repair bay, and Optimus helped Megatron follow. Refusing repair until he knew she would be all right, he merely sat and watched the medic at work, Rumble clinging to his leg the whole time. If Megatron was troubled, the little red Autobot was traumatized. "…Rumble fail," he abruptly whimpered, earning him a look from the silvery Decepticon. He'd never seen Rumble this depressed before. "Rumble su-su-supposed protect human girl. That why Rumble become alive. But Rumble no-no-not protect human girl, and human girl get hurt." The little Autobot was shivering as he pressed up closer. "Rumble fail…"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Poor little guy, he's really taking it hard…


	27. As if things weren't bad enough

-1Just then, loud cursing from Ratchet alerted both of them to the fact that something was wrong. "She reverted," the medic said over his shoulder. "Rumble, get over here, I need your help!" Ratchet had barely finished the sentence before Rumble was sitting on the table next to Sarah's motionless form. Moving her onto the floor, he transformed into his ambulance form, opened his rear door and ordered, "Load her in. I don't care if we're in the middle of nowhere, I'm getting her to a hospital." The little Autobot complied. "Rumble co-co-come too." Ratchet objected. "But you're…" He was downright shocked when Rumble actually _yelled_ at him. _"Rumble not le-le-leave human girl!" _A fairly long awkward silence followed. "…Rumble fail once. Rumble no-no-not fail twice." Another pause came, this one quite a bit shorter than the previous one. "…Get in."

Being out in the middle of nowhere had its perks, as there was no one around to see how ridiculously fast the ambulance was traveling. Gravel roads and narrow, winding paths meant nothing as it tore across the landscape toward the nearest hospital. Not bothering with the lights or sirens until he reached a road, Ratchet was a medic on a mission. It didn't cross his mind how odd it had to be, an out-of-state ambulance sailing in out of nowhere with lights and sirens blaring full-tilt, and he knew the humans wouldn't be able to detect anything different about her save her odd blue markings. Still, he was relieved when the people opened his door to whisk Sarah away to the Emergency Room.

None of them could figure out exactly what in the heck had happened to the poor girl. Her sternum was crunched inwards, many ribs fractured as if from a massive impact, but she was also burned, badly burned across her chest and face. Things didn't look good for her at first, but she must have had some serious willpower or some other kind of inner strength, or whatever deity was out there was firmly on her side, because she didn't die. None of them could figure out who she was since she carried no identification. The only clues to figuring out who she was were her odd tattoos and her red boom box. They couldn't ask the ambulance driver for clues because the odd out-of-state ambulance that had brought her in had immediately disappeared afterward. Asking the girl herself was out of the question, at least for a while, since she hadn't regained consciousness yet.

The nighttime room was dark and silent, the only illumination the streetlights shining through the curtained window. Every so often somebody would come to check on her, but at that moment there was nobody. Sarah was utterly alone. Or so it seemed, until the boom box on her bedside table quietly transformed. Stepping down off the table, Rumble stood by her bed and looked down at her, claws gently stroking her hair. "Human girl not leave Rumble… Pl-pl-please?" From the moment of his accidental creation he had pretty much appointed himself her guardian, and he considered it his duty to protect her. She'd introduced him to the ones he now considered his friends, had defended him from them at first. Everything he had now, including his life itself, he owed to her.

The only warning he got was the fact that the window went dark, as if something large had come between it and the streetlights. Then the air was filled with the sound of crumbling concrete and shattering glass as the wall itself was torn away. The whole building trembled as if an earthquake had hit and the lights flickered but just barely remained on as Rumble turned to behold the huge dark form standing where the window used to be. Smirking at how ridiculously easy things were proving to be, Starscream reached out to take what he had come for, only to recoil as Rumble landed on his face, kicking and clawing as he had with Barricade so long ago. _"Screamer no-no-not take human girl!" _This frantic assault bought the little Autobot enough time to transmit a distress call to his friends, but that was all, since Starscream promptly ripped him off, slammed him into the wall face first and then threw him across the hospital parking lot.

Rumble found himself lying in the repair bay, with Ratchet leaning over him. Looking around, he could see Megatron waiting semi-patiently off to the side. Seeing him there made Rumble remember what he had been doing previously. The little red Autobot promptly lost it. _"Screamer take human girl! Screamer take human girl! Rumble fail again!" _Jumping over to Megatron, he clung to the thoroughly surprised Decepticon's chest and just shook. "Rumble try… Rumble try so hard…"


	28. Unlikely allies in unlikelier places

-1The first thing Sarah noticed was that the ceiling was different, and the second thing she noticed was that she was back in her human form. This was a strange place, somewhere she hadn't been before, and that probably wasn't a good thing. How bad it really was became evident the moment she sat up, for that was when she saw… _"Starscream!" _His response was to cackle evilly and take a step closer to the cage she now found herself in. "Yes indeed, my little tool," he gloated. The look of hatred on her face elicited another laugh. "I initially planned to finish what I started when we last met and kill you for humiliating me the way you did. But then I came up with something better. You're going to help me destroy the Autobots, girl… And that traitor Megatron as well!" Hiding her fear, Sarah did her level best to sneer right back at him. "Starscream, I wouldn't even fix a pocket watch for you." He smirked at her. "Oh really? You'll find that I can be very… _persuasive_ when I want to be." There was a long moment of silence between them, captor and defiant captive. "I'll give you some time to think on the matter. When I come back, we'll see if I can get you to see things _my_ way." Her glare didn't waver for a moment as she watched him leave. Once the door had closed behind him, however, her composure broke and she wept like a lost child.

"Girl… Girl!" She must have fallen asleep, because a familiar voice awakened her. Looking up, she saw none other than Barricade beside her cage, crouched down low so as to be on her level. "You!" Knowing the bars protected her, she took a step closer. "What do _you_ want?" Motioning for her to keep her voice down, he took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching before turning back to her. "They say Lord Megatron has turned traitor… that he has forsaken the Decepticons. Is it true?" She nodded. "Yes, it is. He's with the Autobots… and his brother." Straightening for a moment, Barricade took another look around, making sure the coast was clear. Satisfied that it was indeed clear, he opened the cage door. "_Come on! _We don't have much time." Sarah promptly did a double take. _"What?" _He beckoned to her. "I'm getting you out of here." Seeing no choice but to trust him, she slowly approached him. Being ridiculously gentle for a Decepticon, he picked her up and held her close, then exited the room.

Sarah had a lot of questions, but she wasn't _nearly_ stupid enough to voice them at that moment, as Barricade quietly snuck down the halls of what had to be the Decepticon base. She hadn't thought it possible for something as big as he was to be as stealthy as he was being, but he managed. Still, those few minutes were extraordinarily tense for the both of them, seeming to stretch into a breathless, uncertain infinity. The hallways were totally deserted, and she found out why the minute they stepped outside. It was the middle of the night. The moon wasn't out so she could barely see anything, so she had no clue just where the base was. Taking a quick look around, he quietly transformed and opened his passenger-side door. "Get in! Hurry!" The oddness of the situation hit her in that moment. The cop car that had chased her so long ago and led to the birth of Rumble, that familiar cop car stood before her once more, this time not as a threat but as a beacon of hope? All that remained was to take the final plunge, to make that last gamble and wager everything on the sincerity of a Decepticon. Taking a look behind her, at the base she had just left, she decided to take that chance. And so she got into the cop car that was Barricade.

"Why are you betraying the other Decepticons?" That was the question that plagued her most, had plagued her from the moment he made his intentions clear. The resolute tone in his voice startled her. "Betraying them? _Ha! _If anyone has done any betraying, it's _them_ and not me, for they have turned their backs on the _true_ leader of the Decepticons. I serve Lord Megatron and no other." There was a short pause, and his voice held a note of disgust as he continued. "Besides, I heard Starscream bragging about what he did to Lord Megatron when they last fought. I would _never_ serve someone who would stoop so low as to do _that_ sort of thing, much less someone who would do that and then _brag_ about it. Starscream is a glitch-ridden rattletrap who needs to do the universe a favor and just _die_ already. Either way, he's no leader of mine." He was sincere. Somehow, she could just tell. It didn't make much sense, but she could sort of feel it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sometimes Decepticons _don't_ lie.


	29. He missed her a lot

-1That was how the two of them had come to this moment, him driving down a dirt road as she guided him toward the Autobot base. Both of them were sure the Autobots knew they were coming… at least they were probably aware of Barricade's approach. Cresting a hilltop overlooking the Ark, the cop car paused. A quick, remarkably civil chat between them enabled him to decide on a method of approach. In moments he was slowly making his way down to the clearing, weapons systems deactivated even though his scanners showed that they were aware of his presence and reacting to it.

Barricade's attention was focused solely on the Ark's entrance since he thought everyone would be indoors at that time of night, so it was a complete surprise to him when the silver warplane came swooping in like a hawk going in for the kill. The other Autobots emerged from the Ark with weapons at the ready and the warplane banked sharply to pass above them, then transformed in midair to land in a low crouch right next to Optimus. Megatron slowly stood up, his whip taking shape as he watched Barricade warily, uncertain as to what he wanted and what had brought him here. What they appeared to have going was an old-fashioned standoff… at least until Barricade's passenger-side door opened and _she_ stepped out into the open, letting them all see her.

"_Sarah!" _Their reactions, Megatron included, were spectacular, but none of them were nearly as spectacular as the reaction of the small Autobot at the back of the group. A loud squeal of utter delight filled the air as Rumble skittered over and practically jumped on Sarah. _"Rumble was so worried so worried human girl not le-le-leave Rumble again please please!" _Clinging to her, he chattered on and on about how happy and relieved he was to see her, shaking all the while. Behind her, Barricade silently watched all this, once again reminded of Frenzy, just as he had been at the moment of Rumble's birth.

Feeling their gazes beginning to return to him, the cop car quietly transformed and stood up. Cannon at the ready, uncertain and completely confused, Megatron took a step closer. "Barricade, what are you…" Even his voice betrayed his confusion. Straightening up tall, the other Decepticon stood at attention and pulled off a picture-perfect salute. "Hail Lord Megatron!" There was a long silence, during which Megatron just stared. _"_…_What?" _Whatever the former Decepticon leader had been expecting, it certainly wasn't _this. _

Barricade saw fit to explain. "Have _you_ forgotten too? The day you rallied us together, we didn't pledge to follow a cause as much as we pledged to follow _you, _to aid you in your quest for the All Spark. Starscream and the rest have forgotten this, and as such they have left you by the wayside in order to pursue that goal themselves. But _I_ haven't forgotten. I follow _you, _Lord Megatron, and the side you are on is the side _I_ am on. If Starscream is your enemy, then he is mine as well." Having finally pried Rumble off her, Sarah turned to face him. "…Barricade, are you saying you want to join the Autobots?" He gave her a semi-dirty look. "I thought that was what I just said. The side Lord Megatron takes is the side _I_ take. If that makes me an Autobot, _fine._ I pledged to follow him and, Decepticon or Autobot, that's what I'm going to do." He paused. "But I am not an Autobot. I don't belong here, among you. Instead, I'll spy for you, pretend that I am still a Decepticon, but I'll secretly be on your side." She stared at him. "…Right," she eventually said, not sure if she believed a word of it. "You do that. We'll… uh… um… yeah." There was a pause, during which he turned to leave. "And Barricade?" He turned back to her and saw her smile. "Thanks for helping me out back there." He snorted. "Don't mention it. _Ever._" Not another word came from him as he transformed and drove off into the night.

Sarah was the only one not to watch him leave to make sure he indeed left. Instead, she walked into the base, Rumble tagging along not too far behind her. The rest kept their eyes and their scanners on Barricade until he left both their line of sight and their sensor range. Everyone save Megatron went to put their weapons away and resume what they were doing prior to Barricade's arrival. All his weapons were part of him by nature so he didn't have to put them away, and what he'd been up to prior to Barricade showing up meant absolutely nothing to him now. No, he wanted to see Sarah.

Stepping into the commons area, he looked around and called her name. A soft voice called out in reply, drawing his attention down to the same secluded corner as before, where Sarah sat, cross-legged, with Rumble lying in her lap. This was the first time he'd ever seen the little Autobot so calm and quiet. He was still in his normal form, his head, shoulders and chest draped over her knee, claws clinging gently to her thigh and legs drawn up in what a human would consider a fetal position. He was just lying there, the quietest anyone had ever seen him as Sarah absentmindedly ran her fingers along his slender back, between his spiky little shoulders. Smiling up at Megatron sweetly and a little mischievously, she motioned for him to keep quiet. He looked closer and saw that Rumble wasn't as asleep as he appeared to be. Instead, he was staring off into space, perfectly content to just stay put, in what could only be described as a state of pure bliss. "…So _that's_ how you get the little monster to sit down and shut up."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rumble is CUUUTE!!!!!!! He's acting like my brother did when he was a toddler. He was one hyperactive kid, but rub his back and he'd stay put like that for hours. …And if this scene didn't put a huge smile on your face, you must be completely emotionless.

ATTENTION EVERYONE! I AM TAKING IDEAS FOR WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN NEXT! PM ME WITH IDEAS AS TO HOW THE WAR SHOULD PROGRESS SO I CAN CONTINUE THE STORY! After all, there's a whole war to cover before they return to Cybertron. Sam and Mikaela won't show up until after the war's over. The Autobots want to keep those two out of the line of fire.


	30. In the eye of the storm

-1Mostly an exploration into Barricade's motivations in this fic.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next few months were peaceful, no Decepticon attacks or anything. It was a great surprise for Sarah and the rest to find that Barricade had been telling the truth after all, as was demonstrated by the fact that he actually visited the area several times to tell them what Starscream and the rest were up to. Generally he would tolerate only the presence of Megatron or Sarah… and Rumble, as the case seemed to be whenever she tried. The spastic little Autobot always called him Scary Car and never let Sarah out of his sight whenever Barricade was near. Barricade wouldn't even come close to the base if anyone else tried to talk to him. Strange as it seemed, especially after all the fighting between the two sides, Sarah was actually getting to know the Decepticon.

The way Barricade told it, he'd never considered Starscream a good leader, but he'd been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when they all thought Megatron dead. Upon learning of Megatron's survival he'd been all for handing the role of leader back to him, but Starscream would have none of it. And so he had waited for a chance to make his move, to aid his _true_ leader in or out of battle. He knew his chance had finally come the day Starscream brought Sarah into the base. Her confirmation of the rumors he'd heard only proved what he'd already begun to suspect; that Megatron had found a new way, a way opposed to Starscream, and that if Barricade wanted to continue to serve Megatron he would have to switch sides. What came next had come naturally… the girl _was_ the All Spark, after all, and he had sworn to do whatever it took to either help Megatron obtain the All Spark or to obtain it for him. And so there had been no hesitation, no doubt in his mind, as he smuggled her out of the Decepticon base and returned her to the Autobots. So _this_ was the real Barricade… not the false front he showed to all the world but who he truly was. It boggled her mind how such an honorable soul could end up walking the path of evil, but he was loyal enough to risk everything, to _give_ everything, and so she could see him following his chosen path to the bitter end, no matter what it took.

Things were changing at the Autobot base… at least they were in regard to how things were between Megatron and Sarah. The only ones oblivious to this were the two of them. After all, it seemed so natural that they were spending more time together, laughing and chatting, joking around, having their usual target practice contests, flying side by side… And sometimes they would just sit together as they were doing at that moment, her comparatively tiny form seated upon his knee, Rumble fidgeting as he sat beside her. "…And _that_ was when Dean pulled the fire alarm. Literally _everybody_ poured out of the office… straight onto the waxed floor." She pantomimed someone running, their legs slipping out from under them, almost completely flipping over before landing on their head. All three of them laughed at the image that generated, Rumble included.

What they didn't know was that someone was watching them. A pair of eyes stared from around a corner as someone listened in. Disgust filled the watcher at the sight of the living incarnation of the All Spark getting friendly with none other than the one who had practically destroyed their homeland. The girl… and the All Spark within her… had _forgiven_ him? The thought brought on a storm of rage. How dare he! How dare he act as though everything was all right… as though he thought his sins would go unpunished! How dare he act like anything other than the depraved lunatic he was… the despicable monster he had to be! He said he wanted to repent, to make up for what he had done, but didn't he realize that he could only atone through death? He deserved it, oh yes, deserved to die slowly and painfully, utterly alone, abandoned by those he dared to act as though he trusted. If Megatron didn't understand that only his death would make up for what he had done, the watcher swore to show him. And if he wasn't willing to die for his sins, the watcher would make the choice for him. He was a criminal, and crime had to be punished.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh dear, looks like somebody has it in for poor Megatron… But who could it be?


	31. You knew it couldn't last

-1Special thanks go to i-love-me-some-leggypoo for this idea.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sarah felt the distress call before the Ark's computer detected it, and so she was already in the control room before Optimus called everybody together. She wasn't really listening to him as she transformed into the being they had all come to know so well, that black armored twin of Megatron. A scouting party was being organized and she was to be in it since it would likely be either a rescue or a combat situation. Either way, with her power and her chosen form's sheer strength, she was a logical choice. With her would be Jazz, Ironhide, Megatron and, of course, Rumble. The little Autobot wasn't about to be left out, and he also wasn't about to let her out of his sight if he could help it.

"Rumble li-li-like fly with human girl." Now in her jet form, Sarah would have been smiling had she been able to as she made sure Rumble was strapped in safely before taking off right beside Megatron. The two took to the skies, warplane and alien jet side by side as always, cutting through the clouds and soaring high above the land as they followed the signal. Their scanners showed Jazz and Ironhide in their vehicle forms and making darn good time below them, amazingly keeping pace with the soaring jets. No words passed between any of them as they made a beeline for the source of the distress call. Then again, it wasn't really necessary to say anything, since they were all pretty much thinking the same thing. They had to hurry, for the sake of whoever was sending out that signal.

Sunlight glinted off something shiny and the sight stirred some nameless feeling inside Sarah in that moment, intuition making itself heard. "I've spotted something… Looks metallic. I'm going to check it out. Jazz, Ironhide, converge on my signal." Then she went into a steep dive toward what she had seen, Rumble hanging on for the ride and whooping up a storm, enjoying every microsecond of it. As she closed in, the twisted heap of metal that had reflected the light she'd seen, the barely recognizable wreck, half turned to fix dimming eyes on her descending form. Jagged shards of metal painted with black and white all but screamed a name at her, a name she herself then screamed… _"Barricade!" _

"All right, just like we practiced…" The little Autobot tensed in his seat at this, quickly shrugging off the safety belts until he sat unrestrained. _"Rumble, eject!" _The cockpit canopy opened and he leapt out as if spring-loaded, even as she transformed in midair. Immediately catching him in her arms, the two landed together. "You're getting pretty good at that," she said as she gently set him down. He immediately ran up to where Barricade lay, Sarah no more than a step behind. "Jazz! Ironhide! Megatron! Get over here _now!_" Kneeling beside the fallen Decepticon, she focused as her pale blue highlights came to life, licking out from her body to play over the massive damage Barricade had taken, damage that slowly began to reverse itself. "…They… they know…" She'd figured as much from the moment she saw him. "Don't try to talk right now… Save your strength. You'll have plenty of time to tell me all about it later, all right?" Rumble seconded this with a quick, vehement nod. "Scary Car not talk. Scary Car let human girl do work, then Scary Car say whatever." He shook his head weakly. "…You don't… understand…" He paused, even though he didn't want to. It had taken all his strength just to say that much. "…It's… a trap…" Those last words were completely unnecessary and unheard to boot as the swooping Starscream filled the air between them with a storm of laser blasts. "_Sentimental fool! _I _knew_ this would lure you out!" A quick flare of blue lightning shielded her from the worst of it, but she took some mild damage nonetheless.

That was when Jazz and Ironhide hit the scene, transforming and opening fire even as Megatron swooped in to land between his former second in command and Sarah even as she tried to go back to repairing Barricade's worst damage. Even Rumble joined in. "Oh, so you have reinforcements, do you? Well, _so do I!_" Three more jets soared in, transformed and immediately began to take the four of them on. Dirge, Ramjet and Thrust again. Put in mind of the events that had taken place on the mountaintop so seemingly long ago, Megatron immediately opened fire on the lot of them. Jazz and Ironhide joined in after a few seconds. Rumble leapt for the nearest face, which just so happened to belong to Thrust. Starscream joined in. Sarah, for her part, stayed right next to Barricade, calling upon her power to continue her repairs, willing to settle for getting him to the point where it would be safe to move him. She only hoped she could finish before anything else happened. This, more than anything else, surprised Barricade. The fact that she would stay put in the middle of a battle and risk being shot in order to help a Decepticon… This was more surprising to him than their coming for him in the first place.

It was then that Starscream made a move that surprised them all and yet wasn't surprising at all. "If _I_ can't have her, _no one can!_" Pivoting swiftly, he aimed a shot at Sarah's unprotected back and let fly. She sort of felt it coming and turned to see it coming at her. What she did next startled Barricade even more. Instead of dodging to save herself, which would have left him wide open, she held her position to shield him with her own body. Both of them barely registered the shrieking that came from off to the side, the smallish red blur charging in and leaping for it like a very desperate panther…

The shot struck, but it didn't strike her. Instead it struck Rumble's leaping form, sending him smashing into her and sending her into a very artistic backward dive _over_ Barricade to land flat on her rear with a very badly injured Rumble lying on her chest and not moving. Sarah sat up instantly, the little red Autobot in her arms. "Rumble? _Rumble?_" Her voice rose to a horrified shriek. _"No! Rumble!"_ Pure power surged from her body into his, falling from him like shimmering rain to enter the still equally motionless Barricade. Still there was nothing but silence from him, no motion, no speech, not even a twitch.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OMG, huh?


	32. Bad move, Starscream

-1Who here thinks Starscream just dug his own grave?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starscream's mocking laughter filled her ears and she looked up at him, horror draining away into rage that dwarfed even the towering fury that had first transformed her on that day so long ago. This time it wasn't just her highlights that came to life, it was her whole body. That blue lightning crackled up and down every inch of her, forming a shimmering halo that her armor's sheen doubled. _"Bad move," _she said as she slowly stood, setting Rumble's seemingly lifeless body down with all the tender care of a new mother laying her newborn baby in its cradle. Not just one but a good dozen tendrils of blue electricity ripped free from the churning mass that sizzled along every inch of her to circle around Starscream, forming a globe around him, imprisoning him where he stood. A similar fate befell the other three jets, but that didn't matter to her since her target was Starscream himself. Enraged to the point of actually growling out loud, she stomped closer to him.

"You shouldn't have done that," she snarled. The look of fear in his eyes pleased her greatly. "You thought doing that would hand you victory. Well, you were wrong, since that act is about to hand you defeat… no, _death!_" She walked closer to him and he struggled against her power as the tendrils of electricity encircling him snaked inward to restrain him in the manner of chains. "This… this can't be! The Shard I found… I'm supposed to be immune to your power!" She smirked, an act that reminded him of himself. "You've forgotten what the All Spark is… what _I_ am. _It is_…_ and I am_…_ Life itself._" He was helpless before her again, just as he had been on that day so long ago… "This power gave you the gift of life, Starscream… Did you ever bother to think that maybe, just maybe, it could also take that gift _back?_" Raising one hand, she made a slow, languid beckoning motion and Starscream abruptly shuddered in agony. It felt as though his very life force was trying to wrench its way out of his body! And no wonder, in his dazed mind, since she _was_ beckoning… _"Life is a gift you should never have been given!" _She made that gesture again and this time he screamed as his spark lurched forward in his chest, seemingly beating itself against the walls of his spark chamber like a caged animal…

"Sarah, _stop! _Don't do it!" Starscream momentarily forgotten, she turned to face the one who had spoken. "…Megatron?" The sheer irony of the situation would have been laughable had things not been so tense. He'd spent eons being the Angel of Death for millions if not billions of innocents, and now he was pleading with her to spare a life. "_Don't kill him, _Sarah," he repeated urgently. "Don't lower yourself to his level. You're an Autobot, Sarah. You're better than this." She paused, surprised at herself. She'd seen the pain his deeds had caused him, had witnessed for herself the sheer monstrous guilt he felt, and now she was about to do as he had done, to take her first step down that dark path? "You deserve to die, Starscream." The electricity surrounding her and her victim abruptly died, dropping Starscream to land on his face like a ton of bricks, too weak to even move. The other jets experienced the same. Though she hadn't almost ripped their sparks out, she'd drained their energy as well, and none of them could stand up. "But I'm not going to go _that_ far. You're not worth my time… even to end your life."

Turning, she walked back to where Rumble lay. He hadn't budged an inch. Picking him up, she cradled his little body in her arms and held him close. He'd been her little buddy, more than her first creation, a friend, almost like a son to her… He saved her, but in doing so he… he… Had she been human, she would have wept. It was half past unbelievable to think that she would never again hear his squeaky little voice, would never again see him racing around, so full of spunk, so vibrant and _alive_…

The last thing she expected was to feel her hug being returned, and to hear the one she held speak up. "Human girl not be sad… Rumble not die." She almost dropped him in her shock, laughing in sheer joy. _"Oh, you little rascal!" _Catching himself on her armor, he scrambled right back into her arms. If it had been possible for an Autobot to purr, he would have been doing just that. "I thought… I thought he…" He hopped on to her shoulder like he usually did when she was in that form and needed a friend. "Rumble just hurt… Just a little." Recovering, she turned to check on Barricade. He was still in pretty bad shape, but he was able to travel. "I owe you for this, girl…"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What, did you really think I would kill him off?


	33. Bitter blood from an open wound

-1You thought the trouble was over? Think again!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Off to the side, some distance away, Megatron interrupted them. "You still need repairs, Barricade. You too, Rumble. Ironhide, Jazz, go with them. I'll finish up here." It took quite a bit of effort for Barricade to transform, but he managed, and soon a very badly battered cop car stood alongside two more cars. Sarah didn't bother transforming since she wasn't too sure about whether Rumble had the strength to climb back out of her cockpit. Instead, she cradled him in her arms and took off in her normal form. "Yes, Sarah, you _are_ better than this," Megatron said as he watched them leave. He turned to face Starscream just as the other Decepticon raised his head in time to behold his former leader's cannon in his face. "…But _I_ am not." The last thing Starscream ever saw was the look of utter resignation on Megatron's face and the sorrow in his eyes.

The watcher was almost surprised. Almost. The Decepticon had admitted to still being the same as he always was, had carelessly taken another life. The realization of the simple fact that it was just the two of them drew a smile. Here was the long-awaited chance to end it, to make sure justice would finally be served. There was no way Megatron could possibly see the gun being aimed at his utterly defenseless back… A dark joy filled the watcher, an alien feeling that should not have been there because the enjoyment of such an act was without a doubt something reserved solely for Decepticons. Odd feelings aside, a job needed doing. Justice would finally be served with this single shot, right here and now.

There was no warning, no chance to brace himself as he was struck in the back, right between his shoulders, an expert shot obviously meant to kill… A silent gasp escaped Megatron as the sensation of burning, of melting metal and charring circuitry, ate into him, slowly radiating outward from the point of impact. What felt almost like a surge of electricity crossed with a wave of blistering heat surged downward into his lower body; his legs, everything below the impact site, blazed with sudden heat before seemingly ceasing to exist. _Paralysis, _he realized even as he crashed to the ground. The blast had cleaved his central motor relay system in half, right through the middle. Half his body had been rendered completely useless until he could get repairs. His claws dug deep furrows into the dirt as he gasped in agony, feeling the wound burning deeper and deeper into him, closing in on his spark chamber… _I'm going to die, _he thought as he began to shudder. Eyes closed, face twisted in a grimace that bared his fangs, jaw set to hold back the scream he felt trying to form in the back of his throat, he lay still and waited to die.

The pain began to diminish as the heat began to die, burned circuits and severed wires cooling. The damage was severe, life-threatening at best, but at least it would go no further. He didn't know how long he could last without help, and he didn't want to find out. A shadow fell across him. It took almost all his remaining strength to raise his head and look up at just who stood over him. Pain dulled his vision and his thoughts, so it took him a moment to recognize the shadowed figure. "…J…Jazz?" The Autobot smiled. "None other," he said. A weak smile took shape on Megatron's face in response to Jazz's smile. "…Jazz… somebody…" The smile left the Autobot's face. "…shot you? You think I can't tell?" There was a long pause. "…Help… me…" Megatron begged, in too much pain to really mind how undignified he sounded. Jazz's smile came again, this time twisted somehow, mocking, hateful. _"No," _he said. The look of shock on the Decepticon's face was utterly priceless in that moment. "Not after what you did." Megatron shook his head slowly, starting to understand. "But… I thought…" Jazz scoffed, seeming like someone else entirely in that moment. "You thought you were forgiven? You thought you'd atoned? Well, guess what. You haven't. You never will. As long as you live, you can _never_ be forgiven. Some deeds can't be made up for… only _avenged!_" He paused. "You _killed_ me, Megatron. You tore me apart and left me to die. I think it only far that I get to do the same to you." With that, he turned away to leave. "Goodbye, Megatron," he called over his shoulder just before he transformed. "I hope you enjoy death as much as I did." A Jazz took off for home, a momentary feeling of doubt passed through his mind. This couldn't be the right thing… It wasn't the Autobot way to seek revenge. _No, not revenge, _he reminded himself. _This isn't revenge. This is justice. He had this coming, after all the lives he took. He only has himself to blame. _He didn't have to listen hard in order to hear the desperate pleas coming from behind him, didn't have to look back to know that the fallen Decepticon was futilely reaching out to his receding form. Hearing those cries made the doubt return tenfold, but again he ignored it. The feeling would fade away in time. All he had to do was keep telling himself that what he was doing was right, that he was administering justice rather than taking revenge. After a while, he just might believe it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not everybody would willingly accept a change of heart from anybody. And if the person in question just happens to be the _leader_ of the bad guys…


	34. The demons in my heart

-1It didn't help much that the first person Jazz encountered upon returning to the Ark was Sarah, still in the form that reminded him so much of the Decepticon he had just left behind. Rumble hadn't needed much repair after all, not after the large amount of energy her terror had sent flooding into him. "Hey Jazz, have you seen Megatron around? He said he had some stuff to finish up, and you stayed behind too, so I figured he'd be with you." Rumble, once again seated on her shoulder, looked to Jazz and asked the same question. "Where silver one go?" It was all he could do not to break down and confess everything on the spot. The urge to do just that was powerful enough to make him feel as though his spark was going to spontaneously explode in his chest. His mind whirled, and an alibi came to him. "He said he wanted some time alone, to think over past events and the like. He said not to worry about him no matter how long he took. I think he'll come back when he's good and ready to, and not a moment before." It just about killed him inside when she nodded cheerfully. "All right." She believed him. She _trusted_ him.

It had been a long day, she realized as she transformed back into her human form and prepared for bed. The sun had already set, plunging land and sky alike into darkness as the pale, wan moon began to rise. Pausing, she spent a few moments standing at a window and staring out into the night, wondering what Megatron was up to out there. A moment later she was in motion, heading for the commons area to see if he'd come back yet. Halfway there, she stopped herself. Why was she worried? Jazz had said he needed some time to himself, and he wasn't the type who would be in any sort of danger at night. She'd check to see if he'd come back in the morning. The day's events caught up with her and she drifted off into silent slumber… Her dreams, however, were anything but peaceful.

…_Split in half, she screamed at the heavens, screamed because she was alone, utterly alone, dying out here because he'd left her, curse him, he'd _left _her_… _Face down in the dust, she was crawling, no, not even crawling, dragging herself along, refusing to just give up although it was so tempting to do so, she was in so much pain that she found herself almost welcoming the thought of death_… _Memories swirled around her, names and faces from long ago, so very long ago, voices calling out to her, accusing her of terrible things_… _Legions of ghosts surrounded her, bodies in various states of ruin, torn in half, shredded messes of mangled metal and sparking wires, long dead yet horribly alive and closing in, intent on doing to her as she had done to them because she could never escape her past, could never make up for the crimes she had committed_… _She was sorry but they didn't believe her in the slightest, refused to even consider that she might be telling the truth, and she was helpless to do anything more than beg for mercy, the mercy she knew she wouldn't receive_… "No… no… don't… _please_…"

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" He had to be dead because they were all around him, ghosts of all those he'd killed, billions upon billions, civilian and not, gathered around him in legion after legion, rank after rank, each and every one of them waiting for a chance at him. Megatron lay prone in a huddled mess, shuddering as a thin veil of weak sparks erupted from the wound on his back. Unable to continue for the moment, he was trying to recover at least a little of his strength, but the pain and terror he felt thwarted that. Shielding his face with his hands, drawing away as far as he could, he could barely even recognize his own voice as he begged for mercy, the mercy he knew he had never shown. "Please don't… _Please_… I'm sorry… for everything…" Voices echoed in his dimming mind. _"You, who were always without mercy, now plead for it? We all thought you were made of sterner stuff_…_"_ The ghosts closed in, dead faces twisted in evil grins, flexing fingers in anticipation of ripping him to shreds. _"You can't escape what's coming, Megatron_…_ Just like you can't escape your past, or the crimes you've committed_." The fallen, half dead Decepticon recoiled as far as he could as they came closer still, shaking his head slowly. "No… no. I tried to…" The sound of mocking laughter made him feel as though his sanity was slipping away, slipping away just like his life. _"You tried to seek forgiveness for your sins? _Fool! _The lives you took will forever be on your head, and your guilt will follow you as long as you live. You will never make up for what you've done_…_ And you'll never be forgiven! _Never!_"_ Tormented inside and out, clutching at his head as if to try to block out the words he felt solely in his mind, or to tear his cursed memories out by force, Megatron threw his head back and screamed his anguish into the night sky.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spending the night alone with only your guilt for company is NEVER a nice experience.


	35. More than a nightmare

-1What one feels, the other feels as well…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sarah awakened to the feeling of being shaken violently, and to the sound of screams. She could hear a voice crying out, raw from stark terror, pleading to be spared from some awful fate, wailing out apology after apology for deeds she didn't know of… Awakening fully, opening her eyes to behold the concerned faces of all the Autobots right up to Optimus Prime himself, she sat up before she even realized that she was awake. She shook herself, stretching her legs. "I'm whole… I'm all right." The raw croak that was her voice alerted her to one simple fact. "The screaming… Was that… me?" Nobody had to say anything. The fact that Rumble was sitting on Ratchet and _shaking_ answered her question.

That odd feeling was back, the strange sensation of energy being funneled out of her body that she remembered from the weeks after she had initially found the Shard. Ratchet's scan laid bare both muscle and bone, and far more than that. "She's emitting energy," he said finally. "It's almost as if she's sharing her life force with something… or someone." Hearing this, her eyes went wide. "Megatron," she murmured to herself. _The bond is still there. _She hadn't really realized what that meant, at least not until now. They had been tied together from the first, her holding him to life, him laying bare his memories to her. He'd been lost in his memories and by night she had been lost with him, witnessing it all. She'd walked in everyone's dreams, sure, but the ones she had experienced most strongly were Megatron's. He alone had seen her, been aware of her presence, something that implied a far deeper connection than what she had with any of the others. Given all of that, the connection between them, she just had to wonder…

Were the feelings she had about him true? Were they really hers? She was tied to him so closely, the two of them bound together body and soul by the All Spark's power. Had she gotten these feelings about a normal man, she would have deemed it true love. But Megatron wasn't human. _Nor am I, _she thought. _Not anymore. _Was she reading too heavily into it? Was this what it seemed to be, or was her mind trying to interpret alien thoughts and feelings in a human way? She prayed it was the latter, prayed with all her heart, because there was no way he could possibly feel the same way about her. These _were_ human feelings, after all. What use could beings born of technology have for love?

A stab of pain from her abused throat snapped her out of her train of thought. _"I'm heading out!" _Standing up, she staggered for a moment because her legs were numb, _everything_ was numb below her arms and all she could feel was a tingling sensation, as if most of her body had fallen asleep. The sight of her stumbling snapped Ratchet out of the state of confused shock he'd found himself in. "Heading out? In your condition? You've got to be kidding, Sarah. There's no way I'm letting you go out until I'm sure you'll be all right!" Whipping around to face him, far angrier than anyone had ever seen her, she only had one thing to say. "Ratchet, if you stop me, you can be sure I _won't_ be all right! If you don't let me do this, I may not survive the night… and another may die with me!" At the back of the group, no one saw the look of dawning comprehension and utter horror taking shape on Jazz's face. He'd known the two were connected somehow, Megatron and the girl who had become the All Spark, but he'd never guessed just how strong that bond was. Had his attempt on Megatron's life also put Sarah's life in danger? He would be discovered soon, of this he was sure, and yet he somehow couldn't bring himself to care. The only thought in his mind was that he hoped she would be all right… That and him cursing himself for endangering the very survival of his kind over a stupid personal vendetta. A little unsteady, Sarah crouched down and transformed, rising up as the black metallic being they had all come to know so well. Jazz froze like a very large metallic deer in headlights as she turned to face him. "…We need to talk when I get back. Seriously." He calmed down slightly when she turned to Optimus. "I'll be heading out now… If I'm not back by morning, and I doubt I will be, track my signal and _come find me. _And don't worry about me." She smiled. "I'm a big girl. I'll be all right on my own." Wasting no more words, she walked to the entrance and stared out into the night for a moment before transforming and rocketing off into the night, a comet tearing through the starry sky like a bolt of brilliant purple fire cleaving the darkness as it passed by.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So that's how Sarah feels about things, Megatron included.


	36. Say it if it's worth saving me

-1Whatever had happened, it had to have happened at the battlefield. Blazing through the night like a star come down from the heavens, she was there in minutes, descending and transforming in midair to land in a catlike crouch. All was silent, save for the crumpled, ruined body that lay at the center of it all. Sarah thought her spark had burned out in her chest as she ran over to kneel by the lifeless corpse… only to discover that it wasn't who she initially thought it was. "…Starscream?" The head was gone completely, but she would have known that lean frame anywhere. But who could have killed him? This had to have happened after she left, and to the best of her knowledge one alone had weapons powerful enough to do this kind of damage. "Megatron killed Starscream? He told me not to… and then did it himself? But… why?" The only one who could answer that question was Megatron, and he wasn't there. Where could he have gone? Could she track him? If her dreams were any indication, he couldn't have flown anywhere. Looking around, she remembered Western movies she'd seen, how Indian hunters tracked prey, and decided to try to do the same. Not bothering to stand back up, she sort of crept along the ground on all fours, closely examining every inch of ground until she found the clues she sought.

A patch of torn-up dirt looked as though something heavy had landed on it, and the moonlight reflected off tiny metallic shards littering the dust. Scooping up a handful of that dust, she looked closely at those little shards. That same silvery metal had lost none of its lustrous sheen, even despite the abuse it had taken, because it didn't look as though it had been shattered at all. Rather than being broken off of whatever it had been part of, it appeared to have been _melted_ off, falling into the dust to cool and re-harden there. That silver metal… looking so highly polished, even in such a damaged state… glossy sheen reflecting in the moonlight in the manner of light dancing upon gently rippling water… A momentary memory came to her, of the moment of the first time she had really _seen_ him, the way the sunlight had played upon the crippled aircraft as it limped through the sky. And she knew. Her hands shook as panic fought to rise in her. "Oh, _Megatron_…" No wonder her dreams had been so painful! The trail, she had to focus on the trail…

The moonlight was her ally as she scanned the ground with a critical eye, as it reflected off more of those tiny metal shards, making a trail of sparkling stars in the scuffed dirt. Once again fighting the urge to panic, not really doing too well this time around, she stood back up and flat out _ran_ as she followed the trail. "Please let me find him, please let him get through this all right…" She wasn't sure who she was praying to, or why she was praying at all, but it seemed like the right thing to be doing in this moment. He was alive, he had to be alive because she still felt that sensation of energy leaving her and flowing along the bond between them, but some unreasoning insecurity in the depths of her soul nagged at her that she wouldn't get there in time to save him no matter how fast she ran.

She heard him before she saw him, in that his delirious pleas for mercy from some hallucinated enemy were already loud and clear before she saw his crumpled form. _"Megatron!" _Crying his name, she would have run to his side in an instant if her voice hadn't drawn both his attention and a weak cry of fear. "_No! _S-stay _back!_" The dim glow of his eyes showed her that his mind wasn't wholly there. No, he was lost in a waking nightmare, just as her dreams had shown her. For the first time ever, she tried to consciously access their link. "It's all right, Megatron," she said with something more than merely her voice. "It's me. Sarah." His frantic cries abruptly stopped as her presence cut through the haze in his mind. She wasn't a hallucination after all… He'd initially thought her arrival a product of his tortured mind, his inner demons taunting him with false hope. But no, she was here, she was _real_… A faint smile took shape as he weakly called her name as if to confirm to himself that she was indeed there because her very presence was soothing the guilt that had been raging inside him, quieting his inner demons for a time. She was by his side in an instant, her hand gently coming to rest over the gaping hole that had been carved into his back as she called forth the All Spark's power to reverse the damage done. A momentary shudder of disgust ran through her when she realized she could literally _see_ his spark chamber. Mere moments later the damage began to reverse itself as energy poured from her to him. Both of them felt it when his central motor relay system was restored, for as he regained sensation and mobility in his lower body, the numbness she had been feeling in _her_ lower body faded away as well.

Her power could repair the damage done, but she could do nothing about the fact that his systems had taken enough of a shock to render him too weak to so much as stand up. They would have to stay there for a while. It was all he could do to move onto his back, but he managed, and Sarah gently took his hand in her own. He smiled up at her. "I long ago lost track of how many I had killed by hand… let alone how many I killed indirectly through starting this war. Now I wonder… How can there be anything left worth redeeming in this spark of mine after what I've done? I already know what answer you would give, but I suppose I just need to hear you say it." Leaning in closer, actually _embracing_ him, she spoke the words she knew he needed to hear. "You're worth saving."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The more reviews I get, the faster I update. It's as simple as that. And give me some fricken ideas here, people!


	37. Not all pain is physical

-1Both were sound asleep when the Autobots found them, Megatron stretched out on his back, Sarah curled up like a kitten on his chest. Neither woke, even when they were transported back to the Ark. It was immediately evident that Sarah hadn't fully restored Megatron. She had repaired the worst of the damage, leaving behind just enough for an analysis to be made, so they could figure out what kind of weapon had been used. Ratchet wasted no time in doing just that even as he made the final repairs Sarah had left undone. Repaired or not, he was still in pretty bad shape, given the massive shock his systems had taken, so it would be quite a while before he woke up. The same was true of Sarah, since using that much energy while in human form was a massive drain on her.

There could be no doubt about it. The results were conclusive. One alone possessed a weapon that would do that kind of damage. "Jazz," Ratchet said, completely floored. "_Jazz_ tried to kill Megatron?" It was strange how he seemed to be both the likeliest and least likely suspect at the same time. Jazz had never been one to hold a grudge before, but then again he _had_ died at Megatron's hand. "Optimus isn't going to like this…" A soft groan drew his attention. Megatron was waking up. A little bit disoriented but otherwise fine, he looked up at Ratchet, seemingly stunned by what had happened. "He left me out there. He left me." His utterly astonished voice was barely a murmur, but Ratchet heard it anyway. "_Who_ left you?" The traumatized Decepticon couldn't meet his gaze. "…Jazz." It was worse than Ratchet had thought, worse than even Megatron himself knew. Jazz hadn't just abandoned Megatron under enemy fire, he'd actively betrayed his teammate. "Optimus _really_ isn't going to like this…" He was about to go inform the Autobot leader of what he'd just learned when Megatron interrupted him in mid-thought. "Ratchet… don't. I… Jazz was right. What he did… I deserved it. I killed him, after all…" That did nothing to soothe his anger. They'd been teammates for almost two whole years now, fighting side by side, each risking their lives for the sake of the others more times than could be counted… And still Jazz held his grudge, turning on his teammate the moment an opportunity presented itself? Staring up at the ceiling, in deep shock and obviously more than a little depressed, Megatron drew his attention again. "Never," he whispered softly, voice fairly saturated with sheer, spark-crushing agony. "I'll never be forgiven." Ratchet was about to say something when Sarah's small form thrust itself over the edge of the table. "Allow me," she said. "You go do what needs doing, all right?" He nodded and left.

The only time Ratchet had ever seen Optimus any angrier than this was when he told him what Starscream had done to Megatron. He had a feeling that poor Jazz wouldn't be seeing anything other than the inside of the brig for at least several months. That was all right, though. He couldn't say the other Autobot hadn't earned it with his betrayal. At least things hadn't been any worse. Sarah's timely arrival had saved the Decepticon from certain death, as he would otherwise have died long before morning. Megatron would be just fine… physically, anyway. Mentally and emotionally were another story entirely, but Ratchet had a feeling that having Sarah around would be a great help in that regard. Not to mention that her hanging around with Megatron would keep her away from Jazz.

The physical damage was dealt with swiftly, and soon it was as if nothing had happened to him. But it was immediately obvious upon his release from the repair bay that the physical damage was nowhere near as bad as the betrayal's effect on his mind. If it was possible for someone to change more than he had without becoming someone else entirely, none of them had ever witnessed or heard of an example of it. Megatron seemed to withdraw into himself, no longer trying to approach or interact with the rest… even Sarah. Optimus's spark ached as he watched his brother try to sort things out in his mind. He would have had to be blind _and_ stupid to miss all the guilt and pain plaguing the Decepticon. Over all the eons he'd spent fighting the war, he'd seen comrades self-terminate over lesser pains. Even he himself couldn't fully comprehend how painful it had to be to bear the guilt from such monstrous deeds. He wanted so badly to do something, to help his brother through this, but the cold, desolate look he got every time he met Megatron's gaze only reminded him that, brothers or not, they still stood worlds apart. All he could do was hope the Decepticon could get through this on his own.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	38. That had to have been a long trip

-1The energy signal was traveling at a phenomenal rate for something earthbound, seemingly passing through mountains without so much as slowing down, making a beeline for the Ark as if it knew _exactly_ where it wanted to go. Sarah, however, knew nothing of this because she'd left a few hours before to perform a perimeter check. None of them thought to alert her because they were too busy preparing for an attack and figured no Decepticon would pay heed to a single puny human… until the energy signal's arrow-straight course abruptly changed, placing it on a heading straight toward Sarah's current location. _"It's heading right for her!" _Optimus didn't even have to issue any orders. Everybody already knew what to do as they all transformed and piled out of the Ark as if the place was on fire, then practically broke the sound barrier fifty ways from Tuesday as they headed out.

"I hope we get there in time," Bumblebee said finally. Ironhide tried to reassure him. "Don't worry, kid. Any Decepticon who tries to get their hands on her will find himself full of holes." Just then, he caught sight of the warplane overhead. "…Present company excluded, of course." Megatron didn't bother responding. He'd barely even been listening in the first place. Being higher up, he had a better view of the terrain ahead, and as such he was busy relaying information to the others. The signal was practically on top of her now and they could only pray that things would be all right.

The lot of them got a huge surprise when they finally got close enough to see Sarah, because it turned out she wasn't alone. Strange as it seemed, she had apparently made a new friend… a fairly large mechanical scorpion. "Scorponok is _alive,_" Megatron gasped. The other Autobots were shocked as well, but not at the news of his survival. What was more surprising to them was the fact that the giant scorpion wasn't acting the least bit hostile toward her. No, Scorponok seemed perfectly content in her presence, even happy, as he skittered in circles around her, wagging his stinger in a thoroughly stupid-looking manner and chirruping weirdly all the while. However, he reacted violently when the earthbound vehicles came into his view, leaping between them and Sarah, tail arched forward into attack position and pincers snapping threateningly. They all came to a halt.

The standoff lasted mere microseconds, for Megatron chose that particular moment to land. Transforming in midair as he always did, he landed in a crouch between Scorponok and the Autobots, cannon ready almost instantaneously, waiting for the scorpion to make the first move. Neither moved for a few absurdly long seconds. Emitting a very peculiar squealing sound, Scorponok hopped up and down a couple times before lowering his tail and scampering over to Megatron to scurry in circles and bump up against him repeatedly in a most un-scorpion-like manner. Optimus and the rest came closer and the scorpion reacted hostilely again. "I'd say he knows you're a Decepticon too, just like him," Ratchet guessed. "He may not be the most charged weapon out there, but he knows his kind."

For the first time in what seemed like forever, Megatron actually _smiled_ as he crouched down beside the absurdly happy scorpion. "_You're_ looking well," he said even though he was fairly sure Scorponok couldn't understand him. He hadn't had much contact with Scorponok in the past… the scorpion had generally stuck with Blackout. But Blackout was dead now, had been dead for a very long time… Megatron was probably the first other Decepticon Scorponok had seen since his last deployment at the beginning of the first Earth battle. The scorpion continued to scuttle around in happy circles, squealing in that same peculiar way. "I don't know if you understand me, but the war's over." He gestured toward Optimus and the rest. "They're my friends now." Scorponok stopped his squealing at that, seemingly frozen by what he had heard. "…You _can_ understand me?" A few long seconds passed before the scorpion hesitantly lowered his tail before slowly edging toward Optimus, seemingly afraid and uncertain. Megatron alone knew what was going on. Scorponok had behaved exactly like this upon being introduced to the other Decepticons. "Weapons down, everyone," he called. "Scorponok's just trying to say hello. If I remember correctly, he'll just give you a once-over and consider you allies from now on." All of them held still as the scorpion looked them over one by one in a manner that reminded the watching Sarah of a dog meeting new people, a little bit of tension evident in the slight twitching of his lowered tail. Scorponok promptly relaxed upon completing his 'inspection' of them and returned to where Sarah sat. Megatron had only one question. "Scorponok's hardly the trusting type. How did you manage to get him to act this friendly toward you?" Sarah placed one hand on the scorpion's head, drawing a softer chirrup as Scorponok closed his eyes, seemingly savoring the gentle touch. "I think it had something to do with the condition he was in when he first showed up. Would you believe somebody blew the poor thing's tail clean off? He looked like he was in so much pain… I worked my special magic and fixed him up good as new, and after that he started acting like this." It made sense to Optimus. "Bold words may win allies, but kind deeds win friends." Sarah smiled. "I guess it doesn't matter what species you are… everyone responds to kindness."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

…And another previously unaccounted for Decepticon makes an appearance.


	39. Caution: Falling scorpions

-1Returning to the Ark with them, an official Autobot, Scorponok immediately began to display a side of himself the rest of the Autobots had never seen before. Megatron immediately realized that he had long since forgotten how utterly _annoying_ the scorpion could be when he was bored, and the fact that he and Rumble almost immediately became the best of friends certainly didn't help things in the slightest, since Scorponok was proving to be a _very_ bad influence on him. Nobody appreciated being caught in the crossfire when the scorpion taught the little red Autobot his favorite thing to do…

The sound of metal striking metal was downright deafening, almost drowning out the loud curse Ironhide let out as Scorponok bounced off his head. That was the scorpion's favorite pastime… hanging upside down from the ceiling and dropping on people's heads. His poor victim immediately swore again as Rumble followed him down, squealing and giggling all the way. Deftly twisting in midair, the little red Autobot landed lightly upon the back of his partner in crime and the two of them skittered off as fast as Scorponok's six legs could carry them, guffawing and chirruping all the while. _"You little_…_"_ The scorpion didn't react to his yell at all. Rumble, for his part, merely glanced over his shoulder and emitted an electronic razzing sound that elicited more swearing and caused Scorponok to run that much faster as they rounded a corner and disappeared.

Ironhide's only real comfort in this was the fact that he wasn't alone. The two of them did this to everyone save Sarah's human form, and they only spared her because she could easily be crushed by the weight of a falling giant scorpion. When she was in her other form, however, she was fair game as well. Even Megatron wasn't spared. He alone had previously known that Scorponok could climb walls, but the Autobots hadn't had the slightest clue. Sarah wasn't too surprised that he could climb since he was a bug and bugs could do that, but his love of falling on people _was_ a surprise. The scorpion was a holy terror without Blackout around to keep him in line, but the Autobots were surprisingly all right with that. After all, Scorponok spontaneously landing on people's heads for fun was _vastly_ preferable to Scorponok attacking people. Even Megatron agreed.

The good thing about the scorpion's arrival was that he immediately latched on to the former Decepticon leader. Wherever Megatron went, Scorponok generally wasn't too far behind, providing a darn good distraction from his inner conflicts, all but _forcing_ him to come out of his proverbial shell. That fact made the scorpion's obnoxious hobby almost bearable, since he was able to do what even Sarah herself could not, even with the link… get through the barriers the Decepticon had placed between himself and the world at large.

Whenever Scorponok found Megatron brooding he would immediately race over and start bonking him in the leg, wagging his stinger in that same odd way, all but _demanding_ attention. Had the scorpion the ability to talk, the others swore he would have been flat out _screaming_ _**"PAY ATTENTION TO ME!" **_No amount of scolding from Megatron or anyone else could stop him when he got going like that. This frustrated the Decepticon at points, since he would have preferred to just be left alone, but Scorponok's antics were downright amusing to the point of near hilarity. Hearing Megatron chuckling to himself at the scorpion's goofy persistence, Optimus began to think his brother would be all right. And it indeed seemed as though it would be so, since Barricade gravitated toward him as well, and as always he had Sarah… and Rumble.

Having served his time in the brig for attempted murder, Jazz was summarily set free. The moment he left the brig he began to act as if none of it had happened, as if he had never done anything to Megatron, as if his stay in the brig had been nothing more than the light punishment for a prank pulled. Cheerful as always, he was chatting and joking around with the rest in minutes, completely ignoring Scorponok's fairly recent arrival and pretending Barricade didn't even exist. It was all an act, though. This became obvious to Megatron when the Autobot shot him a glance that none of the others caught… a momentary glare that fairly oozed 'threat', as if to say 'this isn't over between us… not by a long shot'. For a moment, the former Decepticon leader felt something he wasn't used to feeling. _Fear. _

None of the other Autobots were the wiser as to what had passed… was passing… between Megatron and Jazz. All they knew was that Jazz was back, and that Megatron was withdrawing again, deeper and farther than before, this time passing beyond even the reach of Scorponok's antics. Optimus felt the small ray of hope Scorponok had brought with him begin to die. Sarah, for her part, had her suspicions as she watched the Decepticon sinking ever deeper into despair. However, she was dead sure that she had to be either imagining things or just hallucinating when she saw Jazz stop Megatron in a secluded hallway for a moment, just long enough to whisper six words to the Decepticon, words she wasn't even sure were real… "_Never_ forget that you are unforgiven."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

…Okay, now he's just being a jerk.


	40. So I dub thee unforgiven

-1Sarah awoke one morning to the feeling of having been denied something terribly important. It was as if part of her very soul had been blocked off… something she had barely been aware of having had either closed itself off or been shut down. She felt alone… so terribly alone. Sitting up, she tried to figure out the source of this feeling of utter rejection. Something had to be wrong… Deciding to ask around among her friends to see if something was up that she ought to know about, she hopped out of bed to start her day. Everyone she saw said things were all right, but that didn't make her feel any better because something was missing, some_one_ was missing…

A sudden feeling of starkest dread filled her when she realized just who she hadn't seen yet, because then her feelings made perfect sense. The fact that she couldn't feel anything had to be a bad sign, a _very_ bad sign… Taking off running at top speed, sprinting far faster than any normal human could ever hope to achieve and still feeling like she was going entirely too slow, she headed for the main control room just as fast as she could.

"_Optimus! Optimus, have you seen Megatron?" _The Autobot leader fairly jumped out of his metal skin at the sudden shout as Sarah came sailing into the room. Noting her panic, he answered truthfully, "He volunteered to go on patrol early this morning. It's a bit odd that he's not back yet…" He was even more startled at her reaction. "_A bit odd?! _You don't know the _half_ of it! Optimus, he's blocking the link. If that isn't a bad sign, I don't know what would be!" That was when he realized what a mistake he'd made… He'd given his brother the opportunity to go off alone and do whatever he pleased. "Oh no," he said. Sarah interrupted him. "The link may be blocked, but it isn't broken. Wherever he is, whatever he's doing, he's still alive." Wasting no more time, Optimus turned to the computer and scanned the immediate area for Megatron's energy signature. Quickly memorizing the displayed location, he prepared to transform and head out. "Sarah, you stay here. He's _my_ brother and I reserve the right to beat some sense into him!" An instant later, a flame-painted big rig peeled out at a speed previously thought impossible…

It was ridiculous that he'd let things go this long, Megatron decided as he stared down into the quiet expanse before him from his seat atop the ridge on the other end of the valley the Autobots called home. All was silent, save for the wind and a few random birds. The Ark was a good dozen miles away, for while the valley they had chosen was narrow, it was also very long. There were no Autobots nearby to stop him now… "Jazz is right," he said to himself. "I really _am_ unforgiven."

He was so sick of it; so sick of everything. Sick of feeling torn up inside, sick of the pain, the guilt, the memories… His only hope had been that someday he would be forgiven, but now he had lost even that. No, there was no hope. This was the way things were, the way they would remain… unless he took a stand. He now realized that it was well within his power to end it, to stop the pain forever. He'd known this all along, so why hadn't he thought of it before? "To think the answer was right here in my hands this whole time…" And indeed it _was_ in his hands… his cannon. A bitter chuckle escaped him as he realized the irony of it all. He was about to do to himself what he had done to more innocents and enemies than he could count. Raising the cannon, taking aim, he paused. "I'm… afraid?" And indeed he was. His hands were shaking, the cannon was shaking. A sigh escaped him. "Come _on, _Megatron. Just point and shoot. You've done it before." Another humorless chuckle escaped him. "After all, what's one more kill to somebody like me?"

A moment later, the valley resounded with the roar of a single thunderbolt.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I love being evil with cliffhangers sometimes.


	41. We all bear our own burdens

-1Optimus counted his blessings that he had arrived when he did, even though he wished he could have arrived just a little bit sooner. Transforming without bothering to slow down first, he tackled Megatron even as he fired, hoping desperately that the impact would throw off the Decepticon's aim just enough to spare his life. It worked, but not very well. Instead of vaporizing his spark chamber, the blast merely punched a hole through his chest… severe damage instead of an instant fatality. That wasn't all that much better, but at that point Optimus was willing to work with whatever he could get. At least his brother wasn't dead… he'd managed to arrive in time to prevent that. But with the severity of the damage he'd taken, he would have to hurry or it would all have been for nothing.

Megatron, for his part, didn't even really know what had just happened. He had been about to end the misery once and for all when something struck him from the side, the cannon had gone off and now he was on the ground, curled up in a shuddering ball of pain and clutching at his chest because the thrown-off shot had maimed him instead of outright killing him. What had happened? He was supposed to be dead now, it was supposed to be over, so why was he still alive? …It didn't matter. That little problem would be easy enough to take care of. A second shot would solve things nicely. His pain-clouded mind took note of how hard it had become to move, to raise his arm and aim his cannon. He was still quite alive but his strength was gone, all of it, turning even the slightest movement into an ordeal that took everything he had. Surprise cut through the fuzziness in his dazed mind as he felt a hand close round his wrist, the grip gentle yet firm, forcing his cannon away from his chest. Weak as he was, he could only put up minimal resistance but resist he did, even as a face came into his blurred field of vision. "…Op…Optimus?"

It wasn't the fact that his brother was struggling to break free from his grip and finish the job that startled him… it was how weak those struggles already were. "Megatron, _get a hold of yourself,_" he fairly growled, more than a little angry that the Decepticon had tried to kill himself. "Do you even realize the ramifications of what you're doing? _Do you have any idea how badly you scared Sarah with this little stunt?_" All struggling ceased. "…Sarah? But I… I thought…" Optimus met his gaze. "…You thought you could keep her in the dark by blocking your link to her? Well, guess again. The mere fact that you did that alerted her to what you were planning. She's no fool, Megatron. She knows you'd only do that to hide something." The Decepticon felt downright stupid at that point. How could he have forgotten about her? She cared for him, and he for her. "…Optimus, I'm a fool," he said finally. "I don't want to die. It's just… I…" The Autobot interrupted him. "You don't have to say anything, Megatron. I know how it is. Sometimes it just gets to be too much." Far too weak to stand on his own, Megatron had to rely on his brother for support as Optimus looped the Decepticon's arm over his shoulders. "We all bear our own burdens, brother…" Step by step, the two of them began to make their way home.

Megatron's mind was whirling even despite the pain he was in. He felt like the biggest idiot in the galaxy for having forgotten about Sarah. How could he have overlooked her, even in that dark moment? It would have hurt her badly if he'd succeeded and he didn't want that… didn't want to hurt her… No, that wasn't what he wanted. Not after… not after she… Awareness fled in an instant, dropping him into a blackness as deep as the ice that had been his prison for most of his time on this planet.

He wasn't sure how long he was out. It could have been milliseconds… or hours. Either way, the next thing he knew he was lying on the ground staring up at the sky, his vision dominated by the semi-panicked face of his brother. It seemed to him as though he was staring down a tunnel at Optimus's face, and every sound he heard seemed to echo. He felt like his mind was pulling away from his body… It was as if he was falling into himself, his mind drawing inward, disconnecting from reality. "It's… all right… Optimus…" he tried to reassure his brother, smiling up at him feebly. "It doesn't… hurt anymore…" He couldn't for the life of him figure out why that statement only agitated him further. A moment later he could faintly hear Optimus talking to someone else, telling them to come quickly. …Ratchet. He had to be calling Ratchet. That was probably a good thing.

Minutes seemed to elongate into hours as he clung to life, motivated by the thought of Sarah. Her face danced before his delirious eyes, her voice rang in his mind. He felt so strongly about her; he wanted to protect her, to stay with her forever… He'd learned the language of her kind, and he knew the human word for how he felt. _Love, _he thought to himself. _I love her. _He'd known this for a while now but he had said nothing, and he would continue to say nothing, for there was no way she could ever feel the same. Her body may no longer have been human, she may have gained the ability to become one of his kind, but that didn't change the essence of what she was. _Sarah is human, no matter what her body may become. So how could she ever feel the same for me? I'm simply too different from her. Metal and flesh were never meant to meet. Never. _The very idea seemed laughably stupid, and so he would keep it to himself. She would never know just what she had done to him, how she had changed him, as he came to a decision. _Sarah, I swore I would die for you_, he thought. _But now_… _Now I swear I will _live _for you._

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So that's how Megatron feels about Sarah. Go back to Chapter 35 to see how Sarah feels about Megatron.

Ay carumba, huh?


	42. Holding on together

-1He had no idea how much time passed as he stared up at the sky, thoughts of Sarah dancing in his mind as he clung to life, barely aware that his brother was speaking to him, trying to get his attention, keep him focused. _Look at me, Sarah, I'm hanging on. _Optimus felt a chill run through him as Megatron chuckled weakly at something, staring through him all the while as if he wasn't even there. "_Stay with me, _Megatron," he all but begged. It wouldn't be long now, the Decepticon realized. For better or worse, it wouldn't be long. The pain had long since left him, seemingly draining out of his body, and everything else was starting to follow it out… His brother's voice was fading into a dull hum, his vision slowly darkening. Despite it all he felt an overwhelming sense of peacefulness washing over him in soothing waves, urging him to just let go, to stop fighting it. The guilt and sorrow that had haunted him was gone now, lost in the peace that filled him. _Maybe_… _I should just_… _let go_… It was starting to seem like a good idea. He'd wanted so badly for the pain to end, and it _would_ end if he let go. _Dying this way_… _doesn't seem_… _so bad_…

Something surged inside him, life and light pouring in from outside. Sarah's presence enfolded him, filled him, passed over and through him. _Don't leave us, _she begged in his mind. It was as if their respective sizes had switched in that moment as their minds overlapped, her presence almost seeming to embrace him, holding him close like a mother cradling her newborn child. She was strength incarnate in that moment, the power that gave life to his very species now focused on him alone, sustaining him and accompanying him through the dark, holding him to life, her very presence a light that held the darkness at bay. Optimus knew only that his brother was clinging to life, not that Sarah lent her aid from afar. _I'm here, _she told him. _We are all with you. Your brother came to save you from yourself, Ratchet even now is rushing to your side, and I_… _I'm right here beside you. _There was a long pause, warmth and comfort radiating from the soothing presence he felt in his mind and now knew as her. _Remember this, Megatron. No matter how dark and terrible the hour you may face, no matter how alone you may feel, remember_… _You are not alone. There may be times when you cannot see me, but mark my words, I will always be by your side._ In that moment there was nothing save the two of them, one or both of them realized that probably meant he'd finally lost consciousness but neither cared. He was there and she was there, and the rest was just distractions. Both of them were enjoying the moment even despite the dire circumstances that brought said moment on, but neither of them realized that the other was enjoying it just as much.

That was how they both came to be in the repair bay at the same time. Megatron needed some serious repair work for his self-inflicted gunshot wound, and Sarah had, to the best of everyone's knowledge, collapsed. Though he still lived, the Decepticon wasn't doing too well. His vital functions were abnormally low, which caused Ratchet no small amount of worry. Sarah, for her part, was apparently having nightmares. The strangest part was that they seemed to be synchronized. Megatron's vital functions would ebb dangerously low at the same time her nightmares would worsen, and as his vital functions returned to a more normal state she would calm down. There just didn't seem to be a reason for the Decepticon to be doing so poorly, but looking at Sarah gave Ratchet an idea. Gently picking her up, he placed her on the table right next to Megatron… Then he smiled to himself as she immediately snuggled up in her sleep, her nightmares gone. His happiness doubled as he saw the Decepticon's vital functions returning to normal. "Close proximity helps those two," he said to himself, making a note of it for the future.


	43. Out with a whimper

-1Months passed with no Decepticon activity whatsoever. There hadn't been so much as a jet contrail. It wasn't like the enemy to be anywhere near this quiet, especially after losing one of their own. "We need to find out what's going on," Ironhide said. Bumblebee voiced the obvious question. "But how would we go about doing that, huh? It's not like we can just go over there and ask! It looks like we need a miracle here." It was then that Sarah spoke up. "No," she said simply. "We need a spy." They all looked to her. "But none of us are even slightly qualified for that," Jazz objected. "Rumble could conceivably do it; he's just like Frenzy was and Frenzy was a spy… But he wasn't created for that. He's your guardian, Sarah; just like you created him to be." Almost as if to prove that point, the little red Autobot moved a little closer to her. "Loud Sound right. Rumble here fo-fo-for protect human girl." He turned to Bumblebee. "Buzz-Buzz small too. Buzz-Buzz be spy?" Bumblebee shook his head. "Can't do, Rumble. I'm a covert tactics specialist… that's different from spying. I do my thing on the battlefield. Face it, we don't have a spy in our ranks." Sarah cut in. "You're right, Bumblebee, we don't have anybody who could do that." A mischievous smile took shape on her face. "But we _will._"

Standing up, she looked around the room with a critical eye… and settled on a security camera in the room. It was Autobot-sized, meaning it was fairly large in comparison to her, roughly her size. "This should do nicely," she said to herself. A momentary concern made her turn to Optimus and the rest. "Don't worry, I'll replace it. I promise." Summoning up that blue lightning again, she walked closer to the corner of the room where the security camera was. A single tendril snaked out to enfold the camera in question. Her voice, when she spoke, was gentle and sweet, as if she was trying to coax something to her. "Ravage… Wake up, Ravage…" It was only then that they realized what she was doing, for the security camera promptly transformed into a large black and silver mechanical panther, which leapt to the ground and immediately approached her. A smile came to her face as the newly created cat lowered his head and butted her just like any typical attention-seeking house cat would. She petted him and he purred loudly, which drew a giggle from her. "You'll be our little spy, all right, Ravage?"

Rumble approached from off to the side, curious. "K-kitty?" No longer purring for the moment, Ravage sniffed him curiously. The two just sort of stared at each other for a few long seconds… Then, with a delight-filled squeal from one and a loud meow from the other, the two jumped on each other and began to wrestle. _"Rumble li-li-like Kitty!"_

What Ravage learned during his first attempt at espionage shocked all of them. The Decepticon base was utterly deserted. Stolen records provided answers, and what they learned was both very surprising and not a surprise at all. Without either Megatron or Starscream to provide a unifying force, the Decepticons had turned on each other. Some had wanted to follow Megatron, some had wanted to flee the planet, some had wanted to surrender… But none of them could agree on what to do. And so they had gone their separate ways, all allegiance forgotten. The Autobots had apparently won the war… not through battle but through the Decepticons' own weaknesses.

"…So that's the way it is," Optimus finished. "The war's over, it looks like. The Decepticons may attempt a return some day, but it seems unlikely that they'll ever be as much of a threat as they were." The implications of this struck Bumblebee first, and he gave a smile. "Does that mean…" Jazz smiled. "…I think so. You can go back to Sam." Sarah smiled at his happiness for a moment. It was over for Bumblebee… but not for her. She still had to fulfill her duty. No, it wouldn't be over until the day she set foot on the world that still haunted her dreams and restored what eons of warfare had stripped away.


	44. Lunch with Sam and Frenzy?

-1A huge thanks to Bubbilicous Genius for helping out with here on out.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The convoy rolled down the narrow street, led as always by that distinctive flame-painted big rig. Barricade had stayed behind, as was to be expected since few would believe that he'd defected. Rumble, Ravage and Scorponok were helping Barricade guard the base, and Megatron was with them too. Quietly riding with Optimus, Sarah was actually rather looking forward to meeting Sam. Sure she saw him in her dreams, witnessed his brave deeds every night, but now she was about to actually _meet_ him. A lot of things had changed since he'd last been around the Autobots, one of the more major changes being her presence… and that of her guardian. She'd tell him herself, she decided. It didn't seem like it would be very hard, she decided, as the boy literally came _sprinting_ out of the house to meet them. Sheer delirious joy became confusion as he saw her exit the vehicle. "Hello there," she said with a smile. "You're Sam, right? My name's Sarah." A little bit at a loss for words, he just nodded and they shook hands. "So… uh… how'd you end up with the Autobots?" She smiled. "It's a long story… One best told over either a milkshake or a very strong alcoholic beverage. The second option is out, so what would you say to lunch at McDonald's and a full explanation from me?" He readily agreed to that. Since two young adults and a very large truck would be entirely too unlikely to be inconspicuous and Bumblebee was better known to most as Sam's car anyway, it was a logical conclusion that the yellow Autobot provided transportation.

Exiting the vehicle, something drew Sarah's attention skyward. There was an airplane overhead, a fairly large one at that, and it appeared to be… circling over the building they were about to enter? "…Oh no. Somebody _please_ tell me that's not…" Stepping closer, Sam followed her gaze and saw the airplane as well. "Why is that jet circling overhead?" Rolling her eyes, Sarah sighed. "…Oh, it's just asking for trouble. Some folks have guardian angels. I have a guardian devil. Is that just screwed up or what?" Sam shrugged. "Guardian devil? More like a guardian weapon-loaded warplane, if you ask me." Shrugging back, Sarah paid the jet no more mind, merely entering the restaurant. "That's nothing, really, but you wouldn't believe me if I told you." They got their food and took a seat in the corner. Sam immediately got serious. "After meeting the Autobots, I'd believe pretty much anything, up to and including Frenzy jumping out of that garbage can and trying to, like, eat my face or something." To his luck, something very like that happened.

A blue version of Rumble took a headlong leap straight out of the garbage can to land on Sam, who yelped in utter terror. Sarah's reaction was different. "_Rumble, stop! _He's a friend!" The words were out before she realized that this wasn't her little friend. Sam, for his part, was busy. "Rumble? Who's Rumble?" Those words were spoken quickly as he tried to throw his attacker off. Sarah didn't even really need to hear that. "Ah. _Not_ Rumble, then. I guess it's time for me to do my thing." Her odd blue tattoos came to life in that moment, a brilliant rush of lightning that reached out to touch Sam's attacker. Her voice, when she spoke, was utterly alien. _"Stop." _The blue twin of her little Rumble ceased his attack and held utterly still. _"Get off him," _she commanded. Her target got down and just stood there like a statue, docile as could be. Sam, for his part, only had one thing to say. "What the heck was _that?_" Still sparkling blue, Sarah walked closer to the spiky little creature. _"State your name," _she said. "F-Frenzy," it squeaked. "I could have told you that," Sam said. "But what's he doing in the garbage can, and why are you blue?"

The flurry of questions didn't distract Sarah in the slightest. _"State your intentions," _she commanded. The answer seemed forced, as if some unknown power were dragging the words out. "Frenzy c-come to kill human boy. Human boy k-killed Megatron." There was a pause. "Human boy d-destroy All Spark, too." Drawing back slightly, Sarah smirked. "I could tell you a thing or two about both those assertions, but you wouldn't believe me on either count. The truth is _far_ stranger than that. _Go home._" Frenzy left quietly at that, seemingly fighting it all the way. The blue lightning shimmering along her body returned to the distinctive looping, spiraling tattoos that covered her even as she turned back to Sam. "You… wouldn't believe me either." Sam only stared at her in wonder. "I believe I would if your tried to put an effort in explaining," he told her, still dazed by the event. She settled down again and prepared to tell her story.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	45. EEK!

-1"Remember that incident in Mission City? I found a piece of something in the rubble there after they started letting people back in. A… shard. I still have it. Want to see?" She held out the Shard to him. It was immediately obvious to him what it was a fragment of, and the patterns decorating it looked awful familiar in light of the blue fire he had seen… "I found that, and afterward I started having the strangest dreams. A world made out of metal… A war… And the same face over and over, silver metal, red eyes, the face of the Devil himself!" Sam instantly looked up at Sarah. _"Megatron." _Her lack of surprise seemed a little odd to him as she continued. "And… and there was this square thing, a cube, with the blue fire you saw. I saw it in my dreams every night. Every night it would explode into a bazillion pieces." There wasn't even a pause. "Let me guess," Sam started. "The All Spark? Sorry if I don't seem surprised, but I have seen Megatron and the All Spark before you did, so I know." She nodded, knowing more about his involvement with things than he could possibly have imagined. "That's not the strangest part. In my dream the explosion would hang in the air all around me and the fragments would begin to shine like little blue stars and then they'd all rush inward and hit me. …Well, not so much hit me as disappear into me. And then there'd be this… this _light, _and…" She paused. "That's when I'd start dreaming about battles, and when I'd see _him._" Sam was surprised by this however, he thought, not exactly knowing what to make of this dream, but got a theory. "Maybe it means that it somehow came to be a part of you, and maybe when it goes into the battles you can see the All Spark's past. As for Megatron, I have no idea." Though Sarah already knew this, she appreciated his effort to figure it out, and so she smiled. "Want to know more? That isn't _half_ of what's happened." By that point more than willing to hear the whole story, he settled down. "Sure, fire away," he said, leaning backwards in his chair, ready and willing to listen. She shivered slightly, remembering the stark terror in her dreams even though, still unknown to Sam, their subject was now her closest friend. "My dreams… they all ended the same way." She paused. "He… he saw me. He _saw_ me. Th…that hand… reaching out to grab me… I…" Another pause. "That's when I'd wake up screaming." She shivered again, and he felt he understood her terror all too well. "Well, you shouldn't worry, Megatron's dead, I made sure of that," Sam said, trying to lend some kind of comfort to the girl in front of him.

"You'd be surprised as to what I've seen," she said semi-ominously. "From the moment I picked up the Shard, that energy bound me to something. The All Spark was in close contact with something when it was destroyed, something _alive. _From the instant I touched it I was bound to whatever it had touched, and it was using my body… using my _life_… to sustain itself!" Sam felt the color in his face drain, remembering that the last thing the All Spark had touched was Megatron's spark. "Oh boy." Fully understanding his sentiment, Sarah just nodded. "That was what I thought too, the day I saw the jet." It was all the poor boy could do not to fall over from surprise and stark pants-wetting terror at the implications. "Then, does that mean… that… Megatron's alive?" Sarah gave a sigh and began to explain what she had seen and experienced that fateful day so long ago. "It was badly damaged, that jet… One wing halfway gone, a good chunk of the fuselage missing… but it was flying." She paused. "I could feel a call inside me, something was pulling me, drawing me to it. I don't know why, but something deep inside me forced me to follow it."

Sam listened and watched Sarah intently. "Go on." Nodding, she continued. "I followed it across the city, clean _out_ of the city, down to the reservoir, for that was where it came down." She paused. "Not the best landing… I went closer. I don't know why… I walked up the embankment and entered my nightmare." She took a deep breath. "I don't think I've ever been that scared before. Not while awake, anyway. _He_ was there, right before my eyes, _alive._" There was another pause as the perceived implications of the Decepticon's survival hit home. "Oh god, he's going to kill me for sure," Sam whined, now knowing that Megatron was alive. Knowing that such wouldn't be the case, she smiled reassuringly. "Sam, a lot of things have changed since that day. The fact that I stand here should be a good indication of that. Would you like to know why my standing here is so darn important?" Not sure what to say or if to say anything, Sam just nodded.

Standing, she looked around the room and spotted a security camera. "This should do nicely," she said with a smile as she walked up to it. Sam looked at her oddly, wondering if she was crazy or what. That blue fire came again and a tendril snaked out like lightning, much as it had done when he dropped the All Spark on that day… Smiling up at the security camera, Sarah spoke to it in a soft, gentle voice as if talking to a scared kitten. "Laserbeak… Laserbeak, wake up." The once security camera began to shift and whirred to life, soon turning into a mechanical bird-like robot. The robotic bird instantly swooped from it's perch on the wall and flew over Sam's head, making him duck. _"Laserbeak," _Sarah scolded. She held out her forearm like an expert falconer and the robotic bird landed on her arm. "_You behave yourself, _mister," she said to the bird. The bird screeched then chirped at the end, letting Sarah know that it could understand her. She smiled. "Good boy." Then she giggled as the bird used beak and feet to climb up her arm to sit on her shoulder. Laserbeak squawked like a parrot and whistled twice. _"Laserbeak reporting for duty, rawk!" _Reaching up with her other arm, she patted the bird gently before turning to Sam. "This is who I am… what I have become." Her voice was low. Looking at the bird with an evil glare, Sam had only one question. "And what exactly is that?" She didn't so much as blink or show any other sort of reaction. "I _am_ the All Spark," she said simply. Sam's jaw must have hit the floor because next thing he knew he was falling out of his chair in surprise. Laserbeak took off from Sarah's shoulder and circled Sam's head. _"Man down! Man down!" _She was by his side in an instant. "Sam? Sam?" She paused. "If he took it this hard, how's he going to react to my guardian?"

Laserbeak flew over to the door, and out, when someone was entering through the door to McDonalds. The bird flew into the sky where the massive warplane circled and chirped. "Sam? Wake up, Sam…" There was a hearty laugh from outside, a shadow of a plane dancing on the pavement outside on the road. "Very funny," she said sarcastically. "Thanks for the vote of confidence!" She paused. "Earth to Sam. Come in, Sam." The boy fluttered his eyes open, looked up to see Sarah and smiled goofily. "Are you the tooth fairy?" She held up three fingers. "All right, genius, how many fingers am I holding up?" She sighed. "It's okay, the bird's gone now and that laugh you just heard would be my guardian reacting to Laserbeak telling him about you passing out." That got a reaction. "What?" Sam snapped out of his weird almost unconscious outburst. "Who's your guardian?" Sarah only had one thing to say. "Come outside with me and you'll see." Sam got to his feet slowly, walked out of McDonalds with Sarah and looked around. "I don't see anything," he said eventually. She pointed at the jet that still circled overhead. "Look up." Sam looked up and nearly pooped his pants. _"Decepticon!" _Yelling at the top of his lungs, he grabbed Sarah's hand. _"Run, Sarah, run!" _Yelping loudly, she face planted straight into the asphalt. Just then, the sun came out from behind a cloud and shone upon the circling jet, making it sparkle… _silver. _"Sam, I… _**OW!**_"

Sam looked back and once again felt that fear he had a while ago as he saw the polished silver jet. "Oh jeez, not good, not good!" Her yelp had drawn the jet's attention and it banked sharply, beginning to descend. Sam went over to Sarah to see if she was all right, but suddenly he was engulfed by a shadow. He gulped and looked up to see the jet transformed into a giant being. "Ah, _double_ jeez." Getting up, Sarah promptly flipped out. _"Don't! Don't!" _Flipping in a major way, she stepped between the new arrival and the now thoroughly petrified Sam, her arms spread wide. _"It's all right! I'm fine!" _Casting a momentary glance over her shoulder, she said in a _very_ tense voice, "Sam, meet my guardian." Sarah slapped herself in the forehead. "This is _not_ how I wanted this to happen…" Sam watched as the guardian bent over to look at him face to face, and nearly peed his pants when he saw that the guardian was Megatron. Those hellish red eyes fixed on him. "He was trying to hurt you," Megatron growled, almost asking for permission to kick his butt. _"He thought you were trying to kill us both!" _Sarah was practically screaming at him. "Well, he was getting too close," Megatron snarled at the boy, further frightening the lad. "I swear I never even touched the girl," Sam said, stumbling slightly. "This _really_ isn't how I wanted this to happen," Sarah said again.

Bumblebee drove up to the scene and transformed, pointing behind him with his thumb. "I think you caused a massive panic there, Megatron." The three looked behind Bumblebee and saw people frantically running around in terror. "Oh… Right," Sarah said. "We'd best get out of here. Where we show up, trouble isn't far behind… Bee, you and Sam get moving. Megatron, you know what you're doing. As for _me_…" Sam's jaw dropped once again as she watched the human girl he had come to know as Sarah, turn into what looked like a black-hued twin to Megatron. Sam stuttered and pointed from Megatron to Sarah in a confused way. "How?" He was cut off by Bumblebee's drivers seat belt launching out and yanking him into the seat, slamming the door once he was in and racing off away from the calamity. Looking over his shoulder, he saw her transform and take to the skies, a black twin of the alien aircraft he'd seen so long ago…


	46. How much has changed

Bumblebee and Sam were silent the whole trip to the base, Sam constantly looking up at the sky in paranoia. The two jets were side by side, chrome warplane and black alien jet making good time with the same destination. Bumblebee opened his driver side door as they arrived but Sam would not come out when he saw Megatron transform. Bumblebee dumped him out on the grass by tipping the seat. He quickly shut the door and transformed. Sarah landed almost daintily and transformed back into her human form, then walked over to Sam. "Are you all right?" He paused. "…Yeah, just kind of nervous," he stuttered. Sarah stepped closer. "Stay close to me, if you like…" Just then, a loud, demented-sounding squeal filled the air and she paused. "…On second thought, maybe you'd better not." What looked like a huge cat came sprinting out like its tail was on fire, a spiky red creature clinging to its back for dear life and squealing incoherently all the while.

Sam stared at the two with an odd expression. "What in the," he started but was cut off by being tackled by the cat and red creature. _"Ahh!" _Acting as if she'd seen this a thousand times before, Sarah spoke up. "_Rumble! _Get off him!" The little creature made a slight grumbling noise, whereas the cat looked down at Sam and stared. "Why is it staring at me?" There was a hint of fear in Sam's voice. "Is it going to eat me?" Gesturing toward the cat, Sarah spoke in a firm voice. "Ravage, let him up." Ravage did as he was commanded and walked over to sit by her side. Sam stood and looked around, so many things rushing through his head. Rumble twitched nervously as he quietly stared at the boy. "N-new friend?" Ravage was also curious but he made a short low growl to show it, looking up at Sarah while doing so. "Yes, Rumble, he's our new friend." Rumble and Ravage looked at Sam who looked right back. Hearing Sarah's words, Rumble jumped up and squealed in delight, then tackled Sam, which irked Sarah. "_Rumble! _What have I told you about jumping on people?" He didn't move. "B-but, Buggie do it t-to Buzz-Buzz, all the t-time," Rumble whined as he hugged Sam's face. _"Don't remind me," _Bumblebee sighed. Just then, the boy currently wearing Rumble cut in. "Can someone please get this little hot tamale off my face?" Sarah turned to the little red Autobot. "Rumble, get off him." Rumble whined and slid off of Sam's face, only to hug Sarah's leg. "I missed you too, ya little spaz," she said with a semi-forced smile. "He's just like Frenzy, spaztastic and all," Sam said, wiping his face with his hands absentmindedly. Sarah had a question. "So that little blue dweeb back at McDonald's was Frenzy? I've heard of him a little."

Getting up, Ravage walked over to Sam, then bonked up against him like a normal cat. He wanted attention. "Heheh, nice kitty," the boy said cautiously as he slowly petted the metal cat's head. Ravage purred loudly. "That's all he wanted," Sarah said. "Hey, this guy isn't so bad," Sam laughed. "He's our resident spy. Back when the Decepticons were still in business, he'd sneak into their base and find out their plans," Sarah explained. "Affectionate and stealthy," Sam said, smiling to the robotic cat. Laserbeak squawked from on top of Megatron's shoulder like a mini parrot.

At that point, Sarah had only one thing to say. "Well… Uh… shall we head inside?" Sam nodded and stopped petting Ravage, which only made Ravage follow him closely. "Watch your head…" Sarah warned, looking up at the ceiling. "Why?" Sam asked, but soon got his answer as a metal scorpion and the red spaz, Rumble, came down and bonked Megatron on his head, making the former Decepticon leader groan and rub his head. The scorpion and Rumble both scuttled away laughing. Megatron growled and chased after them. _"Why you little_…_ I'm going to_…_" _The yelling disappeared down the hall. "_That's_ why," Sarah said, rolling her eyes. Sam fell over laughing. "That was priceless," he gasped out between laughs. "Scorponok does that to _everybody,_" she groaned. "You're safe since he doesn't do it to humans, though. And that's why I stay in this form whenever I'm in here." She sighed as the boy rubbed his head in unconscious sympathy. "Well that's good news for me," Sam said. "So he even does it to Ironhide and Optimus?" Sarah nodded with a wry grin. "Yup. Everybody. He even has nicknames for everybody. You heard him calling Bumblebee Buzz-Buzz, right?" Sam laughed at the nickname, soon getting an evil glare from Bumblebee that elicited a cough. "Yeah," he responded. Sarah grinned even wider. "Optimus got christened Mister Truck," she whispered. Sam laughed again. "Sure does fit him." They both snickered. "Ironhide's called Big Guns," she added. Sam snickered again. "That _definitely_ fits him." This time there was a pause, and a long one at that, before she spoke again. "Did you know that Jazz is back in business? I helped out there. Rumble calls him Loud Sound." Sam practically fell over. "But, I saw Megatron rip him in half," Sam said, astounded. Sarah grinned. "I was able to fix that. Of course, I also had to fix it when he tried to return the favor…" Her grin abruptly faded. "What do you mean?" Sam started but was cut off. "Hey, Sam, long time no see. How you been, man?" asked the familiar voice of Jazz. Sarah quietly backed down. She hadn't quite forgiven him yet. "Nothin' much, Jazz, how's it feel to be alive again?" Sam asked. "Pretty good, Sam, pretty good," Jazz replied.

All of a sudden there were thundering footsteps coming back towards them. Rumble screaming in fear as Megatron tried to grab him and Scorponok. Megatron went in for the kill and tackled the two sending all three of them rolling into a wall with a loud crash. All eyes were on them as Rumble stumbled out of Megatron's fingers, dizzy. Megatron rubbed his head. "Crazy little robot and his head bopping friend." Sarah shook her head. "Scorponok just _never_ learns… or quits." Jazz snickered. "Never b-bopping S-silver 'gain," Rumble said as he took a few steps forward them fell backwards with a DING. Sam laughed. "Toast's ready." Sarah looked up at Jazz, who was glaring at Megatron. Sam and Bumblebee also saw this and gave Jazz an odd look. Jazz looked at them and raised his hands defensively. "What?"

"Sam, a lot of things have happened since you were last with the Autobots," Sarah explained. "Like what?" Sam asked. "I… don't know if you're ready to hear it," she said sadly. Sam looked at her sadly then looked back at the returning Scorponok and Megatron. The Decepticon was definitely getting a run for his money today. "_Don't try to look innocent, _Jazz," Sarah said. "I'm still mad at you for that stunt you pulled!" He turned to her. "Now just look here, little lady," Jazz cut in crossly. _"Don't call me that," _Sarah snapped. "You knew about the bond. You knew I was linked to him. And you didn't think I'd feel anything?" Both of them looked angry. "Don't start in on that again," Jazz growled. "It was supposed to just be _him!_" Sarah was _very_ angry now. "You're lucky you failed. It would have been _both_ of us if you hadn't." Sam decided to put his foot down. _"Both of you shut up and calm down!" _he yelled, getting both of the two's eyes to look down at him. "I'm getting the feeling that Jazz tried to kill Megatron and something about a bond that I don't get," Sam said slightly confused. Sarah took it upon herself to explain. "Sam, it's like this. I told you Megatron survived because the All Spark linked him to me," she said. "Well, that link is still there. If he's hurt, I feel it. If he dies, I'll most likely die too. And since Jazz tried to kill him…" She turned back to Jazz. "Yeah, you nearly killed me too!" The tension just about doubled between the lot of them in that instant. "I didn't know about the link, all right? Get off my back bumper!" Jazz growled, turning away from her and folding his arms. "I've said it all before," she growled back, turning away as well.

"Well, can't a guy forget?" Jazz didn't so much as turn. Megatron, Sam, and Bumblebee watched the two argue. The Decepticon growled wordlessly under his breath at Jazz as Sarah continued. "It's been two years. Two years! He _had_ what he wanted… _me_… and he handed me over without even being _asked, _much less forced! And what's he been doing since then, huh? Who drove Barricade off that first time?" By now very flustered, Sarah cut herself off. "You know what? Screw it." She sighed comparatively loudly. "Eh, we've said and heard it all before. I give up." Jazz turned around and looked at her. Megatron growled lowly as he watched. The Autobot knelt down near her. "Sorry, Sarah, but if you know what it is like to be ripped in half, have to deal with all the pain and suffering of millennia of death from the hands of Megatron upon other transformers, and be dead for a year, then maybe you'll understand why I did it, but I guess you can't." Jazz finished and stood, walking off. He turned and looked at her before being completely out of sight. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt in the process," he said, then turned and disappeared.

"…You don't understand either," she said softly, sighing a second time and walking in the opposite direction. Looking over at Sam, Sarah gave him a look that spoke volumes. She knew a lot more than Jazz could even guess. Sam gave her a sad expression and went over and opened his arms, inviting her into a hug for comfort, much to Megatron's jealousy. "You'd think he didn't know that my dreams have allowed me to witness firsthand every last battle in this war." She hesitantly accepted his offered hug, uncertain. "…You'd think he had no darn clue that I already know how many died. I saw them all… I still do." She shuddered. "I'm sorry, Sarah," Sam said, patting her back. Even Megatron hadn't had any idea just how much she had experienced. "These memories… they're not even mine. The link… We share more than I ever let on before." Megatron looked down at Sarah, feeling guilty that she had to be link through him and see the horrors of the past. "You think that's bad? In my dreams _I'm _the one doing the killing!" This put a huge weight on Megatron's spark, knowing Sarah should never have to be put through that. "I'm sorry for putting you through this, Sarah," he said sadly, turning his head in guilt. She was shaking. She'd been through things that would terrify most any mortal and come through all right, but _this_…

Megatron lifted a hand and reached for her. "Sarah," he started, a hint of pity and sympathy threatening his voice. She seemed to catch herself in that moment, looking up at him in surprise. A moment later she was acting like someone else entirely as she flew into a silent rage. Her face flushed with embarrassment and twisted into a snarl that made her seem like someone else entirely. The blackest fury imaginable blazed in her eyes like the fires of Hell, reminding Megatron of himself in his darkest days… But only for a moment. It faded away as she crushed the agony she had been displaying previously, burying it deep inside her. Just like that, all signs of her pain were gone, forced away by sheer force of will. She'd let her guard down, let her weakness show, and now her guard was coming back up. "Like hell I'll let _that_ happen again," she swore quietly. It was then that the link's dark side became obvious. It had brought light into the darkness that had been Megatron's spark… but it had done the reverse for Sarah. Megatron, Bumblebee, and Sam were staring at her in surprise, wondering what was going through her head. Shaking her head, she strode off. The knowledge was out, though… at least for one of them. In purifying Megatron, the link had tainted Sarah.

Either way, Sam had just been severely freaked out, so he and Bumblebee said their farewells and skedaddled as fast as they could. Megatron had changed a lot, this the boy now knew… That little exchange between the two of them had demonstrated this far better than any amount of explanation ever could. Laserbeak went with them as a parting gift. Through the mechanical bird they would have instantaneous contact with their friends, no matter where in the galaxy or the universe the rest of them might travel.


	47. His memories, her dreams

-1The day was turning dark, night spreading its blanket across the land. The energy lamps in the base turned on and everyone began to head for a recharge cycle or two. Jazz was on night patrol duty, and Sarah was tired; as tired as could be. She was dead on her feet but she refused to go to bed. No, she wouldn't sleep. Jazz walked down a hallway and found the restless girl wondering stumblingly down the hall. Jazz walked over to her. "Hey, you should get to bed, little lady." Sarah shook her head. "N-no, I don't want… want to sleep," she mumbled drowsily. "The dreams… the dreams'll just…" The Autobot was confused. "Dreams?" Jazz asked concerned. "Come on, Sarah, what's wrong?" Those last words were spoken as he took her gently into his hand. "…I don't wanna… dream about the war again," she murmured. "Every night, they… thousands of 'em.…" Jazz became more worried. He began to walk towards Optimus's office. "What are you talkin' about, girl?" She blinked up at him sleepily. "They die," she slurred out, halfway asleep but really fighting for it. "Every night, they die… Thousands." There was a pause. "No, not thousands," she abruptly corrected herself. "Billions. Bloody lot of 'em, anyways… All 'cause of me." Jazz shook his head at that. "Don't be stupid, Sarah, you didn't do anything to anyone," he tried to assure her. Finally coming to a giant door, her knocked on it. Her voice, when she responded, was barely a murmur. "And Bee… every night, I… I see it. Like it was me doing it. I take his voice." Jazz was very confused. "Well, it's true Bee's vocals were shot before Ratchet fixed him, but _you_ didn't do it."

Optimus finally opened the door. "What's wrong, lieutenant?" Jazz merely held up the babbling Sarah. She quietly regarded them both, nowhere near all the way there. "I don't… don't wanna hurt ya again, Jazz. Every night, it's me. Not him. Me. You said I can't understand… not until I know what it's like. Every night… it's _me_ that rips ya in half…" With that last mumbled comment, she was out like a light. The nightmares began immediately and she shivered in his hand. Optimus and Jazz watched the poor girl shiver in her nightmares, both exchanging concerned looks and not knowing what to do. "N-no, stop it… I don't… don't wanna…" She sobbed, clawing at some unseen foe. "Bee… Jazz… everybody, I… I'm sorry…" Optimus looked at her with pity, gently took her from Jazz and went down the hall to go see Megatron, the other Autobot following.

A light clatter heralded the arrival of Ravage, who let out a soft meow and tagged along behind Jazz. Jazz looked behind him and saw the metal cat. "What do you want, hairball?" Ravage mewled again, tail twitching in agitation. "I don't know what's wrong with her, she's just… I don't know," he finished unsurely, looking down at his feet. Sarah whimpered again, murmuring something about ice, and about being trapped. Optimus looked down at the girl, confused. He did not know what she meant by it until he remembered Megatron having been trapped in ice when he got to this planet in search of the All Spark. She shivered as if freezing. "Out… lemme out… get away from me, dammit… get you for this, I'll… _all_ of you…" Ravage mewled a third time, voicing his concern for her. Then, perking up as if having an idea, he turned and ran off like a cat on a mission. Jazz watched the robotic cat run off. Optimus reached Megatron's door and knocked. "Megatron?" Sarah had curled up into a ball, still shivering as if she were in the process of freezing to death. Her shaky voice showed no small amount of hate. "…Worms… Don't deserve… deserve to…" None of them had ever heard her sound this angry before. She sounded… _hateful. _Megatron opened the door and looked down at the feverish looking human in Optimus's hands. "Sarah?" She didn't notice, merely squirming slightly as she continued to murmur in that same angry voice. "…give it to me… give it to me _now_…" Ravage reentered the area with Rumble on his back, both of them being absurdly quiet. The fact that they didn't make a huge ruckus upon entering showed all of them that the two were downright panicked about whatever was happening to Sarah. All five of them watched Sarah as she squirmed and grumbled in her sleep, saying random things, some over and over three times before she went onto something else. They all watched as she finally laid on her back and laid still. "Give it to me, boy… I may not… may not kill you," she growled in a very good approximation of Megatron's voice.

In their watching they had become oblivious to anything else around them, including sound, but what came next not only brought their senses back, but also scared the absolute heck out of them. It wasn't a scream, but a gasp of shock and utter agony. She stiffened in Optimus's hand, clutching at her chest as if she'd been stabbed through the heart. "No… he… I…" Everyone around her looked at her with confused, horror-stricken faces, all of them rendered completely speechless by her sudden outburst. She shuddered as if in an obscene amount of pain, _clawing_ at her chest, hard enough to rip her shirt and draw more than a little blood. "…burning… it's burning me… out, get it out… s-so hot… I… _no!_" Screaming in mortal terror as if beholding her own death, she bolted up to a sitting position before she was even aware that she was awake, blood from her torn-up chest flowing over her fingers. Optimus nearly dropped her out of sheer terror at seeing her rip at herself and spill her internal fluids. Megatron nearly screamed at the sight. _"Sarah, no, stop, you're hurting yourself!" _She shivered like a frightened child, seemingly unaware of where she was, her fingers clenched tight, digging ever deeper into the bloody wounds she'd carved into herself with each violent shudder that ran through her.

Megatron reached out and gently grabbed her hands and gingerly, so as not to hurt her further, moved her arms and hands away from her. Her eyes opened. "I… I'm… alive?" She seemed to be surprised at that. "Yes, you're alive, Sarah," Megatron said softly. "What happened to you, you…" he trailed off as he looked at the bloody mess on her torso. The stain was spreading slowly but visibly. "Not again," she said in an embarrassed voice. Had any of them been able to recognize scar tissue, they would have realized that the wounds she had just inflicted on herself were merely the latest in what seemed to have become a gruesome nightly ritual for her. The wounds she had just given herself crisscrossed the wounds from the previous night, and the night before, and the night before… Jazz asked the question that was on all their minds at that point. "What's wrong with you, Sarah?" Looking up at him sadly, she managed a wan smile. "I know more than you think, Jazz. I walk on battlefields each night. I live _his_ memories." Speaking that last sentence, she pointed to Megatron. "Every night it all ends in Mission City with the All Spark's destruction… and what feels to me like my own!" She paused. "You said I couldn't understand unless I'd lived the eons of warfare your people endured. Does _this_ count?" Jazz was speechless, not knowing what to say. She had, judging by what he saw, lived through the nightmarish world of their war. But, he still didn't know how he felt about Megatron. Did he forgive the evil Decepticon for his hellish doings, or did he hold on to the hatred he felt for him and try to kill him off without killing Sarah? He was at a loss, not just for words but for what to think and how to feel.

She looked down at the spreading stain on her ruined shirt. "_Now_ do you see why I didn't want to sleep?" He nodded his head shamefully. "Sorry, Sarah." If he knew that her going to sleep would make her do this, he would never have told her to, or forced her for that matter. "…Jazz?" She tried to force a smile. "If you ever get to want to do that again, leave _him_ out of it and just come after _me, _all right? With nights like this, hell, you'd be doing me a favor!" Jazz looked at her with a surprised expression. "I can't kill you, Sarah, even if that would kill Megatron." She just looked right back. "Then something tells me I'll just end up doing it myself. I see billions of deaths each night, and each is by my hand. What's one more, especially if it's mine?" Optimus reacted to that with great sternness. "We will not allow you to self-terminate, Sarah. We'll find a way to help you, even though dealing with dreams isn't exactly something we really know how to do."

"…That makes both of us," she said truthfully. Her shirt was almost saturated now, and any moment she would begin to drip. The bleeding didn't show any signs of stopping, and if she dripped she would drip on him, so she asked him to place her on the ground. Optimus complied and set her on the ground. "We need to get you to Ratchet, before you lose any more blood," he said and called the medic over his com link. "I'll be all right," she tried to reassure him. "This is just another night for me." He objected. "But your wounds could be infected, we can't take the chance, Sarah," he told her as Ratchet rounded the corner. "I'd be lying if I said I felt like a million bucks, though," she said, stumbling slightly. Ratchet scanned her and with a concerned expression, quickly, but gently, scooped her up and jogged to the medical bay. "I'd really appreciate it if you did that, Jazz…" she called back to him softly. Jazz felt his spark fall out of its chamber at that. Wondering why she wanted to be terminated, he knew that she was in pain with the dreams, but would she get better? Jazz looked at Optimus for some sort of guidance. Optimus looked back at him and shook his head. He didn't have anything to tell him.

Sarah just relaxed. If things kept going like this, she'd probably end up disobeying Optimus at some point. "No, I won't," she murmured to herself, feeling a little light-headed. "My duty comes first. Yes, I'll return life to that shattered land, and then…" There wasn't so much as a momentary pause. "If you're about to say what I think you are, I'll have to say I can't allow you to do that, Sarah," Ratchet said caringly as he placed her on the hospital bed and looked at her wounds, quickly looking for something to clean them and then something to cauterize them so they could heal. She smiled. "…Then my job will be done." Ratchet smiled. "We will do the best we can for you, Sarah, please hang in there," he said as he began to work on the wounds she had inflicted on herself. It stung quite a bit.

A few hours later, Sarah walked, wobbly, out of the medical bay. Her chest still looked cut up, but the wounds were shut and the bleeding had stopped. She did her level best to hide that she was still dizzy, trying to look as though she was perfectly fine. Megatron was sitting against the wall just outside the door and saw Sarah, nearly jumping to his feet as he saw her. "Sarah, how are you feeling?" His voice held a note of franticness. "B-been better," she smiled a little shakily. Megatron slid a hand gently behind her and picked her up. "Well the good thing is that you're all right now," he said with a small smile. "Just glad that you're all right," he whispered, more to himself. She smiled back a little weakly. "Sorry to worry you…" she said, just letting him carry her. "No, I'm sorry, If it wasn't for me, you would not be having those dreams," he said. Her chest was still fairly sore, as was visible from the way she hunched forward slightly. This gave him a question. "What did Ratchet say about your wounds?" They had to be very painful, he realized. "They'll heal, in time," she said with a shrug that drew a wince. He only had one thing to say to that. "You shouldn't transform into your other form until they're healed." That was more an order than a suggestion. Seeing the point, she nodded. "I tried that… Can't concentrate." Megatron nodded. The two were silent for a moment, until he finally spoke. "What would you like to do today? Optimus gave me the day off so I could take care of you." She blushed slightly at that, at knowing that this powerful being, who had seen so many things and knew so much, was so concerned about little old her. "…I don't know." She was trying her hardest not to let on that she felt downright awful. Sarah hoped she wasn't as pale as she thought she probably looked. Things weren't spinning too much now, though. She just wished she didn't feel so darn weak. Megatron kept his eye on her so she didn't fall off his hand, feeling through their link that she was still quite weak. "Maybe you should lie down." There was a pause. "I don't want to fall asleep," she said like a sullen toddler. _I can understand that, _he thought. "Maybe sit, then. I don't want you to fall."

Sitting down, she relaxed. Nightmares or not, she was tired. Megatron sighed. "I wish I knew what to do, Sarah. It pains us all to see you like this," he said with melancholy. The idea of sleeping suddenly didn't seem so bad, not with him there. She recalled his nightmare immediately after the events on the mountaintop. Her presence had soothed him, driven the nightmares away. Perhaps… just perhaps… Megatron looked down at the girl in his hands, topless, seeing as Ratchet had disposed of the blood drenched shirt. He turned a corner and made his way towards her bedroom, stopping at a door, then walking inside. "I thought you might want to put a shirt on," he said. She accepted, stifling a yawn. A moment later she was sound asleep in his hand. Curling up like a kitten, she was actually sleeping peacefully for once. His presence filled her mind, chasing away the terrors of the night. Megatron was about to wake her so she didn't have a nightmare, but saw that she was not tossing and turning or saying things in her sleep. He smiled, thankful that she was getting some rest. He grabbed a random shirt she had gotten before going to McDonalds with Sam a while ago and left the room, the girl still sleeping soundly in his hand.

Thus ended Sarah's nightmares, and her sleepless nights. Ratchet alone wasn't surprised by this or by how it was achieved, since he had already seen how each of them benefited from being in close proximity to the other. Megatron, for his part, didn't mind that this new development meant he had to share his quarters with her by night. That was a small price to pay in order to keep her from having another one of those horrible nightmares.


	48. The crossing

-1Everyone was more than ready to leave Earth and rejuvenate their home, the planet that had lain desolate for so many eons. But how? The only one who could fly in space under his own power was Megatron. The others couldn't get off the ground, much less leave the atmosphere. Research into human technology was yielding no results as the lot of them, save, of course, for Sarah, searched the entire internet en masse. The girl, for her part, was convinced that the answer lay in the knowledge bestowed upon her by the All Spark, so while the others ran around and did things she didn't concern herself with, she just quietly sat and went into what could almost be described as meditation, trying her hardest to consciously access the knowledge she'd only previously been able to see in dreams. The answer, when it came, seemed so absurdly simple that she just had to laugh in delight. All the others were confused by her sudden, apparently reasonless rejoicing, but none more so than Optimus, when she came up to him and all but _begged_ him to call a meeting.

"Everyone," she said as she stood atop the table to others were seated round. Instantly all eyes were on her. "I have found the answer… A way not just to reach your world but also to cut out the normally long trip it would take for the lot of us to get there." That _really_ had their attention. She paused, making sure everyone was listening. "We are going to build a space bridge… A space bridge which will be constructed piece by piece right here inside the Ark and then assembled outside the main entrance. And right when planetary conditions are correct, we activate the space bridge and _off we go!_" It made perfect sense. Space bridge technology had seen widespread usage among their kind before the war, and their planet had been a hub for anything in transit via that mode of transportation. It would be a simple matter to align their side of the bridge with their destination, especially with Sarah to pinpoint the target area and guide the beam as it passed through space.

The first few months saw the Ark itself all abuzz with activity as Sarah created as many parts as she possibly could while everyone else disassembled what could be spared for use in their space bridge. With each passing day, Sarah seemed to grow sadder, more distant, pulling away from the lot of them. No one noticed, however. They were all too excited about finally going home. She supposed she should have felt happy. She was finally going to travel to the place of her dreams and fulfill her destiny, after all.

The second phase of construction didn't take nearly as long as the first, as it was merely a matter of moving already-created parts outside and then putting them together. The atmosphere in the Ark was fairly electric with excitement and enthusiasm as work continued around the clock. Her work largely finished save for whatever fine-tuning couldn't be accomplished by Ratchet's brilliant mind or Rumble's dexterity, she merely watched it all happen with a semi-melancholy smile, waiting for the time to come when she would be called upon to align the bridge itself and guide them all across it.

That day came soon enough. Standing at the control panel, she called upon the All Spark's power and became one with the machine itself, her mind filled with data more ancient than the planet she called home as she entered information she really shouldn't have known. Entering the data with precision usually unknown to mere humans, she calibrated the space bridge to connect to their destination. "It's ready," she said finally. Everyone gathered round the odd-looking thing they had created, which resembled nothing so much as a fairly large ring of metal on the ground. Once side of the circle opened up, two sliding door-panels parting to admit those who would soon be its first, last and probably only passengers. Sarah smiled at the others. "Ready to go?" The response was unanimous.

In seconds she was standing within the circle and watching those doors close. Abruptly she found herself being plucked off the ground and placed upon a shoulder… Megatron's shoulder, as it turned out. They all already knew the proper way to ride a space bridge, but she instructed them anyway. "Stay close, and hang on tight. I'll be guiding us through it." A moment later the vortex opened and they were all drawn inside. A moment later she was no more than a pulse of energy traveling down a line of light, a corridor of what seemed almost like liquid electricity, whipping past stars and galaxies alike as she focused on the line, letting it take her where she wanted to go, her and those who rode with her…

It was mere seconds before the ride was over and she stepped out into a vast metal plain beneath a star-filled night sky that seemed to stretch beyond even infinity. They had arrived. There was no doubt about it, the time had almost come. "I'm finally going to fulfill my destiny," Sarah said to the empty air. "Did you say something?" Megatron asked as he stepped out from the space bridge. "Oh… No, nothing," she said with a semi-fake smile. Megatron felt a bit uneasy about the reply but shrugged it off. "Ah, home…" he started but looked at the completely damaged and bare metal based planet. It hurt Sarah too, the sight of such devastation. Her dreams had shown her the planet's heyday. For things to have changed so much… The Autobots stood still as they silently looked around and paid their respects to those lost in the war, that was finally over. The planet creaked and metal on the surface groaned, as if the planet were screaming for help. The All Spark within Sarah literally heard those screams. Doubling over, she shuddered with the planet's pain. All eyes were on her, most running to her side seeing if she was all right, wondering why she'd had that reaction. "I feel it," she said in a whimper. "The planet is screaming." They all strained to catch the screams she spoke of and heard not a sound except for themselves. She fell to her knees, her arms wrapped around herself, shivering violently. It was horrible… like her whole body was filled with the planet's pain.

The planet stopped its screaming all of a sudden and was quiet, utterly and completely silent. She went still. "It… it knows?" A moment later, she got back up and marveled. "It knows I'm here…" Shaking her head, she got down to business. "Where do I have to go to do this?" Optimus picked her up and walked towards an indentation in the planet where a crater gaped like a hellish eye. He set her down. Looking down into the hole, she only had one question. "Here, then?" He nodded. She smiled, a little sadly. "I need some time to prepare. We'll begin the process first thing in the morning… or whatever passes for morning around here." Optimus nodded again. "Take your time, Sarah," he told her and began walking back to the rest of the group who headed towards a type of building, where they were going to take shelter until she was ready. Quietly withdrawing, she spent about an hour writing something none of them could really see. After that, she went and joined the others. They talked and laughed together for hours before retiring for the night.

The next morning, Sarah was uncharacteristically solemn as she got ready to go. She knew Megatron would be along in a few minutes, and she didn't want to be there when he arrived. There would be too many questions to answer, and she didn't want to… to… No, she would not think of that. Better to do it this way; quietly, without him knowing the truth. Laying a data pad where she was sure he'd find it, she turned and followed Optimus to the crater. "The time has come," she said to herself. "This is my destiny."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wonder why she's so depressed? Wonder what she's hiding? Well, you'll find out… In the next chapter!


	49. The price of dreams fulfilled

-1Megatron strolled through the building and suddenly came across a data pad on a dusty table. The first line shown on the screen displayed only one word… His name, written in large, clear letters. Now knowing that it was a note meant for him, he picked it up and read it. _//By the time you read this, I will already have started the regeneration process. What I am about to tell you is something no one else knows_…Megatron made a confused face, but read the next sentence. What could she have to tell him that she wouldn't tell anybody else? _//Regenerating this world means my death.//_He instantly felt his spark freeze, but he fearfully kept reading. _//I've known this was coming for a while. I even hid it from Ratchet, can you believe it? You're the only other person who knows.//_Shivering slightly, wondering why she was doing this, he read the next line. _//This is goodbye, Megatron. It's too late to stop me now. I wish I could have told you this in person, said goodbye, but I know you would never have allowed me to go through with this.//_His eyes narrowed at that. "_Darn right I wouldn't have,_ and I'm still going to try to stop you when I'm done reading this," he growled and continued._//Since this is the end, I feel I can finally tell you my secret. I know your people do not think as mine do, so forgive this human heart for its foolishness. I never let on, even through the link, but what I felt for you went far beyond friendship.//_He paused for a long moment, wondering what this secret could be. What in the world would be big enough to hide from even him? _//I loved you, Megatron.// _The letter ended there. After a short while, literally floored, he read the last line a second time so he knew he wasn't dreaming. Then he dashed out the door in a half-flying sprint, hoping against hope that he wasn't going to be too late…

Down by the crater, Sarah looked up at Optimus. "I'm ready," she said softly. Optimus nodded and stood back from the crater, giving Sarah room to work her magic. The crater was huge as she descended into it, seeking out the exact center. Alone in the middle of the desolation, she allowed herself a few tears, mourning the end of her life. "I'm sorry, Megatron…" At the crater's rim, Optimus saw Megatron sprinting closer as if his very life depended on it, and just barely managed to stop his brother's headlong rush straight into the crater. "What are you _doing?_" The Decepticon seemed to be on the verge of a mental breakdown. _"Stop her!" _Megatron roared at Optimus, a hand outstretched. The Autobot looked over at him. "What is the matter with you?" A second yell was the only reply. _"Stop her, she's going to kill herself!"_ Far below them, it was time to begin. Sighing, she spread her arms wide and tilted her head back. The first few bolts of blue lightning stabbed into the sky. The time had come… the moment she'd been waiting for.

Megatron roared a single word, trying to get past his brother who was holding him back. _"No!" _She heard him. Distance or not, she heard his cry. The power continued to grow and she turned to look up at him as he cried out again. _"Sarah, stop, don't do this!"_A look of surprise took hold on her face, followed by an angelic smile. Three words passed between them. _"It's too late_…_"_ He shook his head desperately. "No, Sarah, I have something to tell you, please, don't go, don't do this…"

The process, once begun, couldn't be stopped, and she knew it. An apologetic look passed across her face for a moment before the release of energy began to become painful. Unwilling to let him see the fact that her death was going to be an excruciating one, she abruptly turned away. Megatron cried out to her once more. _"Sarah!" _He took a deep breath and literally _screamed_ the next words… _"I Love You!"_Shock. Even the swirling energy seemed to freeze in place; a hurricane on pause. She looked to him with eyes wide. "I…" He looked back at her with expectant eyes, hoping the madness had stopped. The energy plumes began to vibrate, and then to move slowly on their original courses. Sarah wavered. He looked back at the girl with dull eyes, gazing at her with a sense of love… and loss. "I love you, Sarah," he whispered. Things were speeding up again, slowly returning to the way they had been before the sudden freeze. The Decepticon bowed his head, knowing that he could do nothing, knowing that he would lose her for good.

She had tears in her eyes as she smiled up at him. If these were to be her last moments, painful or not, they would be happy ones. "I'm sorry," she whispered as the storm grew, beginning to consume her. Pain built in her chest, the spark chamber she now bore in place of her human heart burning like fire. She remembered this from her dreams. "My spark is overloading," she said to no one in particular. "I'm going to die just like Megatron almost did in Mission City." The subject of her thoughts shook his head. "No, I won't let you die, I care too much about you," he said, watching as the storm raged in front of him. It was all too much now, the pain was too much… Falling to her knees, she threw her head back and screamed. In tune with her cry, blue lightning erupted from the very center of her chest to stab into the sky. It was dim at first, dim enough to look at without wincing or squinting, a fairly gruesome sight… Optimus and Megatron watched as the blue lightning entered the sky and came back down to zip down through the hole in the crater and things were silent… but only for a moment. The crater soon began to resound with her cries of pain. The light shining from her chest began to brighten until she blazed like a star come down from the sky. Now they could barely see her but they could still hear her screaming.

Optimus and Megatron stood in awe and slight disgust at the sight. The Decepticon felt his spark shattering into smaller and smaller pieces. A sob escaped him as he continued fighting against his brother, who was also grieving in his own way. Still, he couldn't let the Decepticon go down there because the energy would kill him too. "It's too late, Megatron, it's too late." It killed him to say that but it was true, it had to be… His brother wasn't really listening to a word he said. No, he still fought to break free, shaking his head in denial and pleading with… or praying to… the empty air. "No, no, it can't be, she can't be gone, not like this, not after everything we've been through… _no_…"

It didn't even really sound like her anymore. It was amazing that she was still alive, that she'd managed to survive this long. Death would be a mercy for anyone else at this point, yet she was fighting for it, fighting with a strength of will that refused to yield to anything, pain and death included… Megatron seemed to wilt, all fire and spirit leaving him, as if his very soul was dying in slow motion as the screaming abruptly stopped, leaving only the sound of crackling energy. A moment later, the light began to fade away to reveal her, standing again, her chest a smoldering ruin of the metal and machinery her insides had become, much as Megatron's had been after the All Spark's explosive overload. The storm was done for the most part, the energy swiftly fading into the sky.

Megatron and Optimus stood there in shock, looking down at the girl who stood like a statue in the middle of the crater. Moving slowly, she turned to face Megatron, dazed eyes meeting his. Struggling, her voice was barely a whisper as she spoke his name. He looked to her instantly. "Yes, Sarah?" His voice was barely a whisper as well, but for entirely different reasons as he watched her stumble forward a step or two. Then, abruptly going limp, she slowly, gracefully fell to the ground. Megatron ran to her side and picked her up gently. "Sarah, please, wake up." He shook her slightly. "Please don't leave me…" Looking up, she met his gaze and smiled weakly, even as life finally fled from her body. Feeling his spark die, he held her limp body to him, just barely suppressing the urge to scream out. Her presence brushed against his mind for a moment, there and gone. That momentary sensation, a feeling of sad, fond farewell, drew a shudder and a desolate cry, a wail that sounded like the anguished howl of someone who has just been forced to watch as everything that mattered to him was taken away. All across the planet, those who knew her felt the same gentle brush against their thoughts and knew what had happened.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOT the end…


	50. Rise again

-1I TOLD you it wasn't the end…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The blue light they had come to know so well enveloped her lifeless form, dissolving it into glimmering dust as an orb of pale light arose from her chest. Her spark hung in the air before him, slowly rising toward the sky. Megatron's eyes were fixed on the ascending spark, the light glinting off his silvery face, dazzled by its wonder. For most this would be the end, their spark ascending to whatever lay after life's end… But not for her. An unknown power made contact with the grief-stricken Decepticon's mind then. The All Spark itself made contact with him. He got a questioning feeling from that awesome power, a sense of being given a choice… Stay or go? He was confused, not really knowing what it meant, or what he was being asked to decide on. "Stay," he said, hoping that maybe it was talking about Sarah and that his wish for her to come back to him would be fulfilled. The spark stopped its ascent and just hung there in the air before him. The glittering dust that had been Sarah's body suddenly blazed brighter. Rising up into the air, it began to swirl around the spark. Staring in disbelief, he stood and took a step back, watching the brilliant scene before him. The swirls began to take a definite shape, the shape of a body, a body that wasn't human… Megatron peered closer, hoping to see what was beyond the bright light, but he could only see a vague silhouette.

Now fully formed, the body began to descend even as the light dimmed, revealing features so much like his own, a feminine form sculpted of coal-black metal. It came to rest as gently as a falling leaf, lying on its back, completely limp. Megatron walked over as if in a trance, kneeling down beside the newly created being. He lifted a hand and rested it on her cheek. "Sarah," he whispered. There was no response for a moment. He whispered to her again, hoping she would wake. "Sarah?" A soft groan escaped her and she shifted slightly, reaching up to clutch at her chest. She was blocked by an arm that led to a hand upon her cheek, and her eyes slowly opened as she felt the soft touch. "I…" His face smiled down at her. "Shhh… you're all right now, Sarah," he said soothingly. Her voice was very weak, yet full of surprise. "I'm… alive?" It was a miracle, it _had_ to be… "Yes, you are," he said, not really able to believe it himself. "Thank the All Spark," he prayed in joy. She smiled up at him weakly. The ordeal had taken a lot out of her. Megatron seemed hesitant but he slowly held her close, hugging her gently so as not to hurt her. It took everything she had just to move, but she returned the embrace as best she could. "Sarah," he whispered, "I'm sorry if what I said before, you know, you don't feel the same…" His voice trailed off softly as he held her. "But I do," she murmured. He pulled away for a moment to look at her. "You do?" Her smile, though weak, was warm. "Yes. Ever since the night… the night Jazz…" She paused. "Thought you didn't… _couldn't_…" Megatron looked at her and brushed his hand against her cheek. "It's all right, it's over now." Her smile broadened slightly at that. She had finally fulfilled her destiny… and she still lived.

He couldn't have been happier. "You know you were like a surging windstorm when you restored the land, and since now you're one of us, I think you're in need of a new name… I know just the one." Her reply took a moment. "I… do?" It was all she could do just to talk. "Yes," he said with a genuine smile. "What do you think of Zephyr?" She smiled back weakly. "Zephyr… Sounds… good." Being as gentle as he could, he took her limp body into his arms. "Let's get you to rest." Filled with a sense of well-being, she just nestled in his arms, then delivered a proverbial bombshell. "It forgives you." He looked down at her for a moment, smirked then sighed. Standing up, he walked into the building, Optimus just sort of following. Being as gentle as he possibly could, he laid her on a now newly repaired bed. "The All Spark forgives you," she mumbled to him before sleep seized her. Now feeling much better, knowing that he was forgiven by the All Spark, he quietly smiled to himself. Settling down to wait, he sat on a chair and watched as the newly named and created Zephyr slept. Her dreams were peaceful, full of grand visions of the golden days before the war, days she was sure would soon come again…

The land that had been ravaged by war was finally flourishing, here and there a newcomer would show up, due to the power of the All Spark that repaired the world and its inhabitants. The original group sat outside the building they had been in for the past week now, and stared up at the starry sky, not able to see Earth, seeing as it was billions of light years away by now, in another galaxy. Bumblebee had remained on Earth to continue being a guardian to Sam. The rest stayed on the planet, unless they were somehow needed on Earth, which was usually not the case. It had been a week before Sarah… now Zephyr, even twitched, much less woke up. Feeling awkward and uncertain in her new permanent form, she became a little shy. She wasn't sure where she stood now, what her place was in this world. In her heart she was still human; deep down she would always be that way. She was the All Spark, all of this had been because of her, but where did that leave her?

Megatron looked over at the expression on Zephyr's face, knowing she was thinking. He slipped an arm around her. "Are you all right, Zephyr?" She started slightly, but only slightly. "I'm fine, Megatron. It's just… What now? I never thought there'd be anything for me after I restored this place… I thought it was my destiny to die regenerating this world." He pondered this. "I believe that destiny can change, so can a life, and it does not take much for it to change, especially if someone has an influence on you, or a force, some force to keep you going in this life, and whether this force is that someone or a god, your can still be altered extremely." She smiled gently, her uncertainty fading. "One life ends… another begins. Neither of us are what we used to be." He nodded. "That is very true, you are no longer human, and I am no longer evil. But somehow, I believe it is for the best, also I dare to say that I like being… good," he said smiling at her. Smiling back, she just quietly embraced him. With him by her side, she could face anything. She'd already faced death, and what could be worse than that? Megatron smiled sweetly and hugged her back, thankful that he still had her there, alive. Because if he didn't he probably would have gone mad with grief or self-terminated from sheer depression.

Optimus walked over to the two sitting in the metal grass, the other Autobots in tow. Megatron looked up at him. "Hello, brother, is everything all right?" Optimus smiled and knelt in front of his brother. "We, the Autobots, and everybody else on this planet, have agreed to give you your old job back," he said with a smile. Zephyr couldn't keep the utterly stupefied look off her face, but to her credit she said nothing. Megatron felt the same way. My old job?" It had been so long ago that he could not exactly remember. "Yes, your old job," Optimus smiled more. "As Lord High Protector." She smiled quietly. So they'd seen it too, how much he had changed…

Jazz and Ironhide grumbled at the Decepticon being given back his old position… at least until a black and silver blur came stampeding around the corner, barreling into Ironhide's chest. He let out a yelp at the impact, falling backwards. Jazz looked down at his fallen comrade, going over to him and standing by the wall of a building that Ironhide had fallen beside. Ravage daintily seated himself on the fallen Autobot's chest, settling down and washing his paws. A squeal and a chirrup heralded the sudden appearance of a falling scorpion and his red companion, directly above Jazz's head. He tried to duck, but they hit and he fell backwards in dizziness. Landing side by side but not running off this time, Rumble laughed, while Scorponok chirruped happily. Ravage simply purred.

Megatron laughed and pointed at the two out cold Autobots, cheering, oddly, for the nuisances he had come to know. Optimus turned back to them after the scene. "So what do you say?" The Decepticon thought for a moment then looked at Zephyr, a smile upon his face. "Only if I may have Zephyr as my lady," he said taking her hands in his. Too overcome for words for the moment, she just nodded. "…I accept!" She fairly squealed in joy, not caring in the slightest how utterly undignified she was being. Megatron smiled brightly. "Fantastic!" He stood, picking her up in his arms and swinging her around. She couldn't have been happier if she tried. Optimus smiled at the two's happiness and rounded up the others to go get the preparations done for the initiation of a Lord High Protector… and a wedding. Rumble was a little unhappy that Jazz and Ironhide had been knocked out. He'd been planning on telling them off. Not about to let a good take-down go to waste, Ravage curled up for a nap. On Ironhide. Scorponok, for his part, stayed with the happy couple, skittering around happily. While he wasn't the smartest one of the bunch, he knew enough to be able to tell that everything would be just fine. Megatron leaned down to let Zephyr pet the happy scorpion. "Are you happy with this decision?" She smiled. "I couldn't be happier," she replied. Not wanting to be left out, Rumble gave a happy squeal as he leapt into Zephyr's arms, practically knocking her over. "…And he's happy too!" Megatron fell backwards on his rear at the power tackle from Rumble as he snuggled into Zephyr's arms. "I can tell." The future, it seemed, looked bright…

Far, far away, in a huge room made entirely of metal, a fearsome shape lay motionless before a nameless red-eyed medic. "My lord…" Harsh white light reflected off cobalt blue metal as the being stirred. "My lord?" Hellfire eyes opened and a chilling voice spoke. "I am… Galvatron." The Decepticons would return, and this time nothing would stop them.

…And on the other side of the galaxy, a ringed planet stirred in its orbit…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I DID IT! IT'S FINISHED!


End file.
